The ONI Way
by phoenixforce50
Summary: The Assassin Templar war has continued into the 26th century, and humanity is at war with a vastly superior group of alien species known as the Covenant. Behind the looming power of ONI, there is a Templar master, behind the rebels and Insurrection, there are the Assassins, hiding among the UNSC's old enemies. As events unfold, questions will be raised and loyalties will be tested.
1. Chapter 1

The ONI Way

**Chapter 1**

Alistair sat gloomily in the back of the truck headed into enemy territory, flicking his surgically implanted hidden blade in and out of his wrist, the smooth metal barely making a sound as it slid across his bare skin. The truck rumbled its way down a frozen glacial path that lead to a coastal base situated at the southernmost landmass on a desolate Arcadia. The planet, due to its low population and previous Covenant attacks, made a fine site for an inconspicuous base of operations; no-one asked questions and few knew of its existence. Alistair pulled his hood deeper over his head and pulled up his face mask, which concealed most of his features, including the prominent scar on his left cheek. After a few more bumps, the truck came to a checkpoint. Alistair instinctively checked his silenced M6C magnum pistol at his side; it was still there. Alistair heard boots crunching against light snow outside and the muffled conversation of the guards with the driver. Alistair pulled the large crate lid over him and hid beneath the shipment of food and supplies, which he'd spiked with a powerful yet untraceable poison. The guards came around the back of the truck, climbed in and began to open some of the boxes closest to them, not particularly expecting any intruders in the first place, and as such, not looking as carefully as their detailed security manuals instructed. After about forty seconds, they retreated back outside and the truck and its deadly cargo continued to its final destination.

"Sir, here's the inventory from the latest shipment, they'll be he in thirty seconds." said the young marine as she walked up to her superior officer with a datapad containing the aforementioned inventory report. The officer took the pad and looked over the inventory.

"It looks like we didn't get as many parkas as we wanted, but still enough. Alright, unload it into the storage bays."

Alistair watched as the crates were loaded into the storage area form a vantage point out of sight. He breathed a sigh of relief and it condensed in front of his face. He shuffled back onto the roof and headed to the main complex.

"Hey, have you seen Coulson?"

"No, why?"

"It's supposed to be his shift now, and he's never late for his shift. I wonder where he is."

"Maybe he ran off because you smell."

"Wow, real mature Jenkins. Maybe he doesn't like that noise you make."

"Oh yeah? What noise?"

"That constant sound of you being an idiot. Come on, let's go find him."

The two guards split up to search for the missing guard. As one went to the door of the bathroom, Alistair twitched a muscle in his arm and a mechanical blade responded to the motion and flicked out of his arm. Out of the view of the other guard, Alistair slid out from behind the door, slashed the guard across the throat, cutting it open and sending a spray of blood into Alistair's waiting hand which clamped down hard, causing minimal spray. The man was silently dead in seconds. Alistair grabbed his body and dumped it into the toilet stall. Cleaning his hands, he picked up his access card and went to the door, swiping it, he entered the laboratory. There was no-one there, all the personnel having turned in for the long, cold night. Alistair closed the door behind him and quickly went around the lab, searching for an access port. He dashed into the adjoining room and continued searching, finally finding a database access terminal. He withdrew a special data chip and slotted it into the port. Onscreen, digital information flashed faster than Alistair's eyes could keep up.

"Come on, come on," as Alistair urged the download to hurry up, he heard guards shouting and heading down the catwalk towards the lab. Finally, the download finished, the information removed from the database and sent to an orbiting ship, awaiting his signal for extraction.

As Alistair turned to erase the logs, the door was opened and three guards rushed in, brandishing MA5B assault rifles. Instantly realising his situation, Alistair leapt into action; literally. He vaulted over the table between him and the guards, covering the distance before the guards had even tuned around. Alistair triggered both of his blades fully, each almost a foot long, and plunged them into the first guard, puncturing both his lungs. The man dropped, gasping for air as blood slowly filled his collapsing lungs. The other two guards had finally brought their rifles around and attempted to fire at Alistair who grabbed the wrist of the closet guard and twisted him around in front of Alistair just as his fellow guard fired several rounds into him. Alistair tossed the dead guard aside and strode towards the remaining one, who swung his elbow at Alistair in an attempt to knock him unconscious. Alistair easily ducked the clumsy blow and thrust his palm up into the man's jaw, stunning him, then spun around behind and pulled hard on his head and turned. The man's neck snapped. As Alistair looked up at the doorway, another person blocked his path: a woman in military dress, also his secondary target. She was holding a gun at his head at point-blank range, there was no way he could get out of the way in time, but he'd be damned if he didn't try. Alistair tried to roll to the side and out of the way, but the woman's reflexes were somehow quicker than his and she fired, the shot hitting its mark. Alistair fell to the floor.

Alistair woke to a bucket of freezing cold water splashing across his body, the sudden change in temperature shocking him awake. As he sputtered and tried to open his eyes, he realised that there was a bag over his head and that he was tied up, unable to even trigger his blades. A voice spoke to him.

"So, the Insurrectionists are using Assassins now, are they? Or is it the other way around?"

It was the voice of a woman, maybe his secondary target, but there was no way to be sure under the circumstances. Alistair said nothing.

"Giving me the silent treatment won't help you here, Assassin. I know what you are here for. I know you sent the research already, but you didn't clear the logs; we can still track the transmission. We _will _find your friends."

Alistair remained stubbornly silent

"We also found the poison you laced our supplies with. Clever, but nowhere near good enough."

Alistair heard footsteps getting closer, and the voice suddenly felt a lot closer

"You know just as well as I do what the Covenant is doing to humanity, and I think my people have a better chance of winning than yours. And even if we win, who do you think is going to have more resources available to them, hmm? Face it, the Templars hold all the cards, and ONI is our ace. If you tell us everything, I might just let you live, and then you might just live to see the end of this war. So which is it? Will you betray your brothers to save your race, or betray humanity to save your brothers?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Governor Jiles took a sip from a glass of scotch, mixed feelings going through his mind. He had just received word that the data that was successfully stolen from the ONI research facility on Arcadia, but one of their best Assassins, his brother Alistair, didn't deactivate the auto-destruct on the extraction shuttle, meaning that he was either stranded or dead, soon to be the latter for sure. Jiles was not normally a man to show his true feelings outwardly, but the loss of his brother was something that hung about him like a cloud of despair.

A knock on the door wrenched him from his lament. He looked up and said "Enter."

The door slid open and his nephew, Jack, entered the room.

"Uncle Jacob, what's happened? No-one's telling me anything. Why hasn't uncle Alistair reported back yet? Why are you so-"

"Always the inquisitive one,"

Jack kept silent, waiting for further understanding of the words his uncle was saying.

"You're just like him, inquisitive; never letting something go until you understand it all. Ever since our father died, Alistair took care of both your father and I; always making sure whatever we were doing was safe before we tried it. Got us out of a few slippery spots I can tell you. I was always surprised that he jumped straight at the opportunity to become an Assassin, knowing full well the risks involved, but I suppose at that time, he saw more than just the safety of your father and I; he saw the safety of the human race."

"Wha- what are you saying?" said Jack, his lip trembling slightly

"Alistair, he- I, I can't. here's the mission report. I'm sorry."

Jiles slid the readout across his antique desk to Jack, who deftly swept it up and pored over it in desperation. As his eyes reached the bottom of the page, the rate at which he read slowed until he slowly put down the readout. He fell heavily into the chair at the front of the desk.

"I, I can't believe he's gone. I, I just-"

"I know Jack. It pains me deeply to say this, but Alistair Jiles, my brother, your uncle, Assassin and above all, patriot, is dead."

Jack was silent for a moment, then regained his senses

"Now what do we do? The mission report said he managed to transmit the research to the ship before the shuttle exploded and his bioreader says he froze to death. What will we do with it?"

"First, we'll hold a funeral service for him. But we must make sure his death was not in vain. Here, take this. This was originally meant for Alistair, but in his will, he left everything to you, so it seems only right that this opportunity should be presented to you first." Jiles handed Jack a stapled sheaf of papers. Jack took them with a look of suspicion in his eye.

"What is this?" asked Jack

"Those, those are what Alistair died for. Those," Jiles paused for dramatic effect, the gravity of the situation not lost on Jack "are your official papers for being a part of project: Prometheus."

Jack walked down the long hallway and towards the elevators. Today was the day that he was supposed to report to laboratory two for project: Prometheus. As the elevator travelled to the bottom floor, Jack wondered what the outcome of the project would be. The papers only revealed that he would be testing the effectiveness of modified Covenant weaponry in combat and other situations. The vague description bothered Jack greatly. As the elevator doors opened, he saw other test subjects waiting outside laboratory two. As Jack approached the door, a scientist met him and asked "Are you here for project: Prometheus?"

"Yes, I'm here in place of Alistair Jiles. I'm-"

"Jack Jiles, yes I know. I'm so sorry for your loss. Alistair was a great Assassin. Really had a lot of the traits his ancestors shared."

"What do you mean?" asked Jack, wondering how the scientist knew that

"Ah, your hidden blades are surgically implanted, yes?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Then you would have been trained recently. I'm guessing in the last ten or eleven years?"

"I began training thirteen years ago, by Alistair and my father."

"Oh, OK then. You're in for a treat. Right, that makes everyone." The scientist turned his attention to the group assembled outside the laboratory. Jack made to ask more about it but the scientist continued on.

"Everyone please make your way inside in a calm and orderly fashion. You have all been assigned a section and a number. Line up in your assigned section in numerical order and wait for further instruction."

The testing group, containing both Assassins and Insurrectionists, made their way inside. Jack was assigned to section H, and numbered five. He took his place in line and stood at attention. The other test subject lined up on both side of him and began talking amongst themselves

"We're not even anything closely resembling a military operation; why do we have to slap a fancy label on this project thing?"

"I don't know. You know what we're doing here?"

"Nah, heard that we're testing modified Covenant weaponry. That's it. Wonder what it is, I hope it's energy swords that I can use."

"Oh, hell yeah that would be _so cool_."

"Shut up you guys," said the woman at the front of the line "we're about to start.

Indeed, another scientist was walking towards section H with a datapad that he lay down on the table beside the front of the line.

"Hello to you all. I am Doctor Bennett. You are all very lucky; you get to test out modified energy sword technology,"

The two men who were talking about them before both fist-bumped each other.

"We have implemented them into smaller handles to allow for humans to use them, and in other ways as well. Alright then, everyone numbered one-to-five this way, six-to-ten that way."

Jack followed the people ahead of him but the scientist stopped him

"Aren't you a little young for this testing sonny?"

"I'm nineteen; and I have hidden blades. I think that speaks for itself."

"No, I meant if you have had any animus training yet. It normally doesn't happen until twenty or so. Still, as long as you get that, you should be fine for what we have in mind."

The scientist released Jack, who could have released himself easily, but something about him made Jack want to stay and listen to what he had to say.

"What is animus training anyway? My father mentioned it but never went into details about it."

"Well, that's because it's one of our most closely guarded secrets. You'll find out soon enough. I'll make the proper arrangements then. In the meantime, continue on, we'll get it done after the tests."

Jack nodded and went along to follow the rest of the group, sorely disappointed that no more could be revealed about the animus. As he caught up with the group, he heard another scientist describing the nature of the experiments

"-and it works just the same as the old hidden blade gauntlets, but still works through implants if you have them. You can use both, in case they stop working. All right, pick up a pair of gauntlets and proceed to the testing area. You'll know when the test begins."

The two men and two women picked up their pairs of gauntlets, Jack lagged behind before doing the same. The group followed a blue line on the ground through two corridors until they reached a sudden drop. The woman at the head of the group, the one who told them to shut up, looked down and nodded slightly. She flicked her wrist and a strange hissing noise Jack didn't recognise came from her position. Jack couldn't see what was going on but before he could get a better view, she leapt off the edge silently, falling gracefully like a tiger pouncing onto its prey. The two people behind her did the same, and Jack finally saw what they were doing: the man in front of Jack flicked out his wrist as if to release his hidden blade but instead of a long blade of metal extruding from his wrist, a strangely curved blade of blue energy flicked out. The man looked back at Jack and gave a wry grin, then turned back and performed a picture-perfect aerial assassination on the dummy several metres below them, slicing cleanly through the neck as though it was paper. The man stood up and continued onwards. Jack looked down, the dummy already replaced by a new one. Jack looked down at his wrist, the gauntlet a strangely familiar weight, as if it were an extension of his own self. He flicked out his regular hidden blades and as he was told, they still worked. He sheathed them and then tried the new gauntlets. Two wicked blades of blue plasma held within a magnetic field appeared at each end of his hands, in a similar position to his regular hidden blades. He admired the way they glowed with an ominous light, like something beautiful and deadly at the same time.

"Test subject five, you have not completed the objective, please aerial assassinate the dummy below." said an automated voice from the PA system

Jack looked up and blushed in embarrassment. He shifted his weight and observed his target, gauging the distance at about ten metres; he shifted his weight so that he would land on the target's back and push it to the ground to cushion his fall. Immersing himself fully in the moment, using the mental training Alistair had perfected and taught him, he jumped and time seemed to slow for a second; the wind a low growl in his ears, and he fell onto his target, piercing the neck and rolling with the fall, holding the dummy's head in his hand. Making up for lost time, Jack sprinted forward through the white walled room to the next chamber, the automated voice saying "Test chamber one complete. Proceed to test chamber two."


	3. Chapter 3

Apologies, somehow this chapter ceased to exist for a time, so here it is again.

**Chapter 3 **

As he entered, he saw two drones standing side by side. This would be easy, a simple double assassination. One of the drones round the corner and began to move, its visual sensor looking for any form of unprogrammed movement. The other drone remained still. Jack reconsidered his approach, and then dashed forward to stab the drone and pull it backwards out of sight. The other drone still patrolled the area, oblivious. Jack rushed the drone, easily outmanoeuvring it and cutting off its power supply located in its head.

"Test chamber two complete. Proceed to test chamber three."

Jack approached the next doorway and entered. In it was an MA5B rifle on a stand, pointed towards him.

"In this test, we will be testing the shock-bearing capacity of the energy blades. The rifle is loaded with stun rounds but still has the same amount of force."

The rifle fired, Jack dived instinctively out of the way, the gun swivelled to follow while still firing. Jack forced himself back up and prepared for the rifle to complete its slow turn towards him. He held his blades outwards, in a defensive manner. The rifle fired but no bullets hit him. The energy blades shuddered under the onslaught but after fifteen seconds of continuous fire, the rifle stopped.

"Test chamber three complete. Proceed to test chamber four."

Jack sighed; the automated voice was getting to him, starting to annoy him.

In the next chamber was a sparring drone, tall, cylindrical and many arms attached to it.

"In this test, you are to survive against this sparring drone for fifteen continuous seconds, then disarm it. Begin."

Jack disengaged the energy blades and walked up to the drone and it began to spin, its arms powering up for sparring.

Jack blocked the first blow to his head with the gauntlet on his right arm, the metal clanging against metal and jarring Jack's arm, but Jack could only block another hook before a gut punch followed by a palm strike to his chest sent him falling backwards.

Jack rubbed his sore arms and chest and stood up again, remembering his uncle's words: _Never meet force with equal force, it will only result in both side in pain, and you'll be up against guys who can take that pain. There is an easier way, to divert the force, simply send it on its way, don't meet it head on, that's just what your opponent wants you to do. When you divert the force, you can then take control of your opponent._ As Jack stood in front of the drone again, it powered up its arms and began to attack.

Jack dipped under the first attack, and then diverted the second jab over his head, angling his arm, he used the spin of the drone to avoid the next two attacks which were aimed at where jack was, not where he ended up. Jack stopped the powerful uppercut by striking the crook of the elbow of that arm, the force of his blow sending it into the ground and it was the drone's turn to jar its arm on a hard surface. The arm did not rise again.

_Fifteen._ Jack mentally counted. He leapt back from a double-strike attack from the drone and flicked on his energy blades. Leaping back into the fray, Jack began a spinning frenzy of his own, cutting and sinking his blades into the essential workings of the drone until all of its arms lay still on the ground. Jack looked down at the wreckage with a gleeful look of victory on his face.

"Test chamber four complete. Proceed to the final test chamber."

As Jack entered the final test chamber, the exit was not made apparent to him immediately.

"This test is designed to test the resourcefulness of the individual. If you pass this test, you will be a full part of project: Prometheus. If, at any stage you wish to not complete the test, there is a back door you may use, but the use of this door results in automatic expulsion from project: Prometheus."

A door opened on the side of the wall, labelled "exit-Warning: this door leads to expulsion from the project."

Jack looked around; in the room was a small building that looked like barracks, and drones could be seen within, patrolling. Jack wasn't sure how to continue, he assumed that the proper exit was probably inside the barracks, but how would he get past all the drones? All he had was two energy blades, against a roomful of drones. Jack was about to think that he'd gone against worst odds, but he really hadn't. Jack decided to get a closer look at the barracks. Through the window he could see drones patrolling at an even pace through the room, and there was almost no cover, so he couldn't use stealth to get through. The drones were spaced out about ten metres between them, the door visible at the end of the room. Jack was certain that he would be unable to make it through such a long room and not get caught. If only he could get in closer to the door…

Jack looked down at his hands but all he saw was his ten fingers and two gauntlets-

"That can cut through solid metal." finished Jack aloud

He snuck up alongside the barracks to where it met the wall of the chamber and peeked through the window, his moment of opportunity would be here right, about, now. Jack slashed two vertical cuts straight down the wall and kicked it down hard. The drones all reacted to the movement by turning and raising their rifles at the hole but Jack was already inside, using an already-disabled drone as a meat shield as he sprinted to the door. Stun rounds pelted the wall behind him and the drone pierced by his blades. He threw himself through it, leaving the drone for dead in the room. The door slammed shut behind him, the gunfire immediately ceased.

"Congratulations test subject one of five, you have completed all of the test chambers. You are now a fully-fledged member of project: Prometheus. Please wait until you have been contacted by your test supervisor."

"Well, that wasn't so hard." said the woman, throwing the rifle down beside her as she sat down. She noticed Jack and looked at him with disdain

"Oh, so you made it too, did you?" she said, her voice unmistakably acidic.

Jack was about to reply when two more doors opened, almost simultaneously, and two more members of the group came out: a woman and one of the men who was talking about energy swords earlier. The woman was limping, having been hit by a stun round. And the man was partially dressed as a drone, wearing its armour like a disguise. It wasn't very convincing, but since there was no gunfire from his door, Jack assumed it must've worked.

"Congratulations test subjects two of five and four of five; you have completed all of the test chambers. You are now fully-fledged members of project: Prometheus. Please wait until you have been contacted by your test supervisor."

"Oh thank god _that's _over." said the man, removing his disguise and tossing the pieces of armour aside.

"Got that right. I don't think I can look at another drone the same way again." said the woman with the leg injury.

"You two are too soft. We are Assassins; we are supposed to be the human equivalent of Spartans, if not better."

"Julia is right," came a voice from the loudspeakers. "You should all strive to be better than the enemy's best. We are losing this war, and I don't just mean against the Covenant."

A door opened at the other end of the room, and governor Jiles entered with a medical team behind him who immediately went to the injured woman's side and applied biofoam to the wounds.

Julia stood to attention at Jiles' entrance and he waved her down.

"I understand you were the first one out, Jack. Very impressive, your father would have been proud."

Jack perked up at the recognition of his achievement and gave his uncle a small grin, to which Jiles gave a curt nod. Julia frowned slightly at the emotions transmitted by the expressions of each.

"Governor, what are we to do now?" asked Julia

"Well, you are two be split up into pairs, and assigned to a team for further missions as either close-quarters fighters or whatever else you are listed under for your specialities. Using these new weapons in the field is what project: Prometheus is all about, but you will have the option of keeping your normal weapons and equipment if you wish and it is recommended just in case they stop working for whatever reason, as they are still mostly  
experimental."

"Governor, what exactly would these missions entail?" asked the man

"You will all first go through intense physical and mental training, including an elite animus training program to help you develop the skills required, which should only take a couple of weeks. After that, you will be assigned missions appropriately. We'll keep you updated."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Jack slid into the animus chair, surprisingly comfortable for its rigid-looking design. The display screen next to his head slid across over his face.

"Alright, you will need to be synchronised with the animus and the avatar's movements before you can move onto the actual training. The bleeding effect will do the rest."

Jack nodded, not really understanding what he had to do but trusting Uncle Jacob's judgement.

As his vision blurred into white, he was suddenly in a large empty space, like he was standing on nothing and watching the threads of the world trail off into nothingness. A voice spoke to him from everywhere at once

"Welcome to the animus 5.6. This program is designed to instruct personnel and allow them to gain the skills and knowledge of previous Assassins by reliving their memories firsthand. Please try to move your head around."

Jack followed the instruction, the movement feeling strange in a body that was not his own.

"Good, now try walking to that marker."

As the voice said this, a glowing spiral of light appeared a few metres away. Jack, one shaky step at a time, eventually reached the marker.

"Good, now please hrrrrgggffth."

Jack creased his brow in confusion but it was short-lived

"Just a minute, the automatic synchronisation program is a little outdated. I'll take it from here." It was the doctor who was helping him into the animus.

"What do I do now then?" asked Jack

"Well, your file says that this is your first animus training session so we'll have to take it a little slower than normal, but you should finish a day or two after the others."

The training was long and arduous, but Jack enjoyed it all the same. Reliving the lives of previous Assassins who had lived to a long life, who had been the best they could be. After the 18 days of nearly nonstop training Jack was finally pronounced ready for fieldwork. He had already received his first mission: to steal data from scientists excavating ancient ruins of unknown origin. The researchers were located on the planet Heian in the Arc star cluster that was previously used as a Covenant command and supply base.

Assassins mostly lived in underground bunkers where they wouldn't be seen or detected from above, and these researchers were foolish enough, or gutsy enough to set up their base of operations on the surface, inside the alien ruins. Jack thought about it for a minute as the stealth craft slunk through the dark recesses of space and concluded that they probably needed to be close to the ruins in order to glean as much information as possible. And it would provide cover against the elements. Besides, the Covenant had already been through there, so what could possibly be left?

Jack filed that thought away for when further information could be acquired and strapped himself in for landing. The rest of the people in Gamma team were already making their preparations.

The sniper, who was quite talkative during the trip and was called Zhang Ho, was checking over his particle beam rifle. Stolen from the Covenant, it had been reverse-engineered for project: Prometheus and there was just enough genetic material left on it for a partial animus program to be pulled from its previous owner's life of sniping, before it was cut short by a marine. Zhang was a man of humble beginning; born and raised on a farm on Venezia, he started out as a farm boy moose-hunter, the kind of sniper most resented by UNSC elite snipers and decided to join the Assassins after a Templar tried to steal his family's land out from under them and killed to finally get it.

Their logistics and analysis team member Jill Monroe had an AI to assist her and was in a heated discussion with it about what could have made the ruins. She was an academic, and bonded easily with the AI named Cassandra, her blonde hair cut back to hang just past her ears mirroring that of the AI's image. A disturbing coincidence, thought Jack.

Their heavy and weapons specialist, a man with a crew cut and light beard named Hank Fuller, was going over each of his different weapons, making sure all of them were in working order. His movements smooth and flowing even in the bulky _drachen _armour he wore. The armour was, of course, a modern representation of the ancient armour. Only a few were made in renaissance Italy, due to their size and weight only men of extreme strength could use it. The modern representation had all the bulk of its ancestor but a lightweight compound material that made it much more practical in battle.

The team leader, Julia Stroud, had completely ignored Jack during the whole trip and was looking very at home in the captain's chair. Her black hair tied back in a short ponytail and her gaze set on the planet that was steadily getting bigger in front of her.

"So, what do you think we're going to see there?" said a female voice suddenly, jarring Jack from his thoughts

"Sorry, what?"

"I said," the owner of the voice now apparent that it was their logistics member "what do you think we're going to find down there?"

"I honestly have no idea. Isn't that your job?"

"Well, yes. But you seem like the kind of guy who's interested in stuff." And awkward pause passed between them

"I'm Jill, what's your name?" asked Jill, holding out her hand in a friendly way with a warm smile on her face

"I'm Jack. Jack Jiles."

"Oh, you must be the guy who's related to the governor. I didn't get much chance to talk during the rest of the trip, I was studying the data with the AI."

"Uh huh."

"It's really interesting. The ruins predate both sides, and we don't know who built them. They're not Forerunner or First Civilisation."

"I guess we'll find out when we get down there."

"Well, we're almost there kids." Said the heavy, hoisting a minigun over his massive shoulders

"Better strap in tight. I'm Hank by the way. Zhang's been yapping my ear off the whole trip. Maybe he'll shut up when we hit the ground."

Jill laughed

"Not likely Hank. I never shut up unless I'm behind a rifle and a target's in front of me." Said Zhang in a light Chinese accent

"Can it, all of you. We're entering the atmosphere in t-minus 60 seconds. Strap in and shut up." Said Julia sternly from the cockpit

"Ooh, someone's got a temper." Whispered Zhang to Hank, who nodded in agreement

The stealth vessel came into the planet's atmosphere fast and low.

"Shields are holding. Coming out of the atmosphere, now." Said Julia from the captain's chair

The cloud layer broke suddenly, and the vast expanse of forest made itself apparent.

Hank whistled

"Nice view from up here."

"Where are we landing captain?" asked Zhang

"LZ is three kliks north-north west. I'll set us down in approximately two minutes."

The ship slowed, and its VTOL thrusters kicked in, lowering it gently to the ground.

"Alright everyone, we're a couple kliks out from the ruins, it'll take us until nightfall to get there. I'll tell you when to go stealthy and switch to encrypted comms. Move out, Jiles, you're in front, Fuller, back him up. Monroe, you're with me. Ho, get up in those trees and cover us."

Everyone took their positions wordlessly and began the long skulk through the forest.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

As Gamma team approached the ruins, it was obvious that humans now inhabited it; cables ran through building to building, the hum of a generator going quietly in the background.

"Alright, encrypted comms only. Activate stealth gear." Said Julia

The team set their colour-changing clothes to dark greens and browns, almost black and almost invisible against the darkness.

They spread out around the compound, each searching for the main computer core that held the research information.

"East building empty." Said Hank

"South clear." Said Jill

"West too. Keep looking." Said Julia

Jack stalked around the north building complex. It was crawling with guards, and Jack was waiting to find a gap in the guard patrols. Finally, he saw a break, just a few seconds but enough. One guard had gone to talk to another, their attention away from a wall that had a low window on the upper floor. Jack sprinted full out, gathering speed and shot up the wall, grabbed the window sill just as a guard rounded the corner below him. The guard looked around a couple of times and, satisfied that there was no-one there, continued along. Jack breathed a sigh of relief and peaked into the window. The room was completely dark, the light from outside offering minimal illumination but enough to make out the outlines of its contents. Jack searched the room, finding nothing but dust and artefacts. Suddenly his comm crackled to life

"Jack, Jack! Watch out, there's a Spartan in your building."

"Zhang, keep it down," whispered Jack "what do you mean Spartan?"

"I mean ONI thought that their little expedition needed some protection. There's a Spartan in that building, second floor, by the window on the east side. It's talking to someone, possible a researcher. That's all I can make out from her- it's on the move. Get going."

"Roger that, thanks."

Jack carefully made his way into the hallway, looking left and right for the mysterious Spartan before progressing forward. Jack found the rest of the rooms on the top floor empty of people and only one lit. Jack proceeded carefully down the stairs, peeking underneath to check for more guards. The large room that made up the entirety of the first floor was fully lit and contained the computer core.

"Jack here, I found the core. Proceeding to insert the infospike."

"Standing by to receive the data. Go ahead." Said Cassandra

Jack changed the colour of his clothes again, making him harder to make out from the outside. He slowly made his way to the terminal in the centre of the room, preparing the infospike as he approached. Once there, he made doubly sure that he was alone before initiating the transfer.

"Infospike is in. Data stream steady."

"Cassandra's receiving, good work there Jack." said Jill with something close to admiration in her voice. Before Jack could interpret her tone of voice, the unmistakable feeling of being watched washed over Jack. He made his way outside as quickly as possible, leaving one or two guards with holes in their chests along the way. He dashed to the cover of the forest, on his way to meet up with the rest of Gamma team.

As he made his way through the trees, suddenly, he was aware of someone very close to him. He stopped, turning around quickly. A fist was coming straight at his face. His training, combined with the instincts of several ancestors thanks to the bleeding effect, allowed him to sidestep the fist and turn the massive armoured arm attached to it. Another half second later, Jack saw the face of the assailant; a Spartan!

Jack went into panic mode, his fear of an extremely superior foe overwhelming his logic and reason. The Spartan, wearing CQB-variant armour turned to face Jack, drawing a pistol from its side. Jack finally came to his senses just in time and redirected the force of the Spartan pointing its pistol at Jack and directed it upwards. The shots fired harmlessly into the night sky, echoing through the forest. The Spartan brought its other hand up for an overhead smash, Jack attempted to block it but his strength wasn't enough; the Spartan's fist came down on Jack's head hard enough to send him reeling backwards. The Spartan followed up with a devastating reverse kick which would have crushed jack's ribs, but Jack brought up his arm, triggering his energy blades at the same time as he blocked the kick with his arm. The Spartan, facing the other way, didn't have time to react as its foot was cut off, its shields flickering.

The Spartan roared in pain and lost its balance, tumbling backwards, blood flowing from the stump of its ankle. Jack moved in to finish the kill; leaping up through the air, arms extended, and stabbed the Spartan through the chest, straight through the heart.

The Spartan convulsed once then fell back, breathing labouredly.

Jack stood up slowly, watching his handiwork.

"You- who- who are-are you?" the Spartan asked in a shaky voice, its T-shaped visor staring at Jack accusingly

"I am just one of many who would see your organisation brought down. ONI may be under the influence of the Templars but that doesn't excuse those who work under its banner and kill my brothers."

"What? Temp- Templars? Are you craz-" the Spartan's head lolled back onto the ground, unmoving.

Jack watched silently, and then radioed the ship.

"Guys, I got something you'll want to see."

"What is it? You're already late for evac." asked Julia, impatient

"Trust me, you'll want to see this."

"So what did you fi- oh, oh god." said Zhang, as he descended from the trees, first to arrive.

"Whoa, seriously? You found a dead Spartan?" asked Hank, a few seconds behind Zhang

"No, I killed-"

"You killed? I find that hard to believe. Even if you came from the great Kenway line, I can scarcely believe you killed a Spartan."

"Actually, with all due respect, captain, the wounds match up. This indicates plasma blades. And it's far too small to be an energy sword. So unless it was you and you're being extremely modest, I have to believe Jack." Said Jill carefully

Julia looked at her and scowled.

"Fine. Either way, bring it back to the ship. I think we can make use of this one way or another."

Hank and Jack dragged the body back to the ship, Zhang carried the foot, slightly repulsed but Julia had ordered that nothing get left behind. This armour was the equivalent of a tier-one asset and the Assassins were going to use anything and everything they got their hands on in order to survive.

"Gamma team, come in Gamma team. This is the Mount Kallos. Status?"

"This is Julia Stroud, Gamma team captain. We're fine, mission a complete success, no witnesses. And we have something for our scientists to drool over."

"You can say that again." Said Zhang from the back

"Roger that Gamma, over and out."

The ship descended onto the hidden landing pad that extended out of the top secret location that the Assassins were based on the planet Venezia, known only to them and certain Insurrectionist members.

As Gamma team left the ship and descended the gangway, Julia grabbed Jack from behind and spun him around to look him in the eye

"Listen here kid and listen good. I don't know how you killed that Spartan, I still don't even _believe _that you killed that Spartan, but you are not about to outdo me. I will not be surpassed by some upstart sprout just because he gets special treatment from the governor. Understand?"

Jack nodded slowly, his face carefully neutral

Julia released him

"Good. As long as you stay out of my way from now on, we shouldn't have a problem."

Julia continued down the gangway, leaving Jack on the ship alone.

"If it helps, her psyche profile lists her as 'prone to emotional outbursts but able to control any form of physical reaction.'" Came a voice from behind Jack

Jack spun around to pinpoint the source of the voice, but saw no-one.

"It's Cassandra. I heard your little discussion. I feel sorry for you, Julia was top of her class in almost everything and she isn't used to being beaten."

"But it wasn't even an objective." Replied Jack, knowing full well what it was

"Even so, I would suggest requesting a transfer to another unit; maybe Delta or Zeta."

Jack thought about it for a second; joining another team did seem like a viable option, and it would certainly solve his problem, but then he remembered Jill, her smile opened up something inside him, something that had died along with Alistair. Jack was never one who normally was into girls, never really had the chance, but something about that smile tugged at his mind, like a fishing hook snagged on a rock. He wanted to find out more about her, she sparked an interest in him that he couldn't explain. He rejected the decision to ask for another team.

He realised that he had been standing there for a long time, causing an awkwardness that fell on the conversation like a settling mist.

"Ah, maybe not. I think it'd be too much of a bother. Besides, I can handle whatever Julia can dish out."

"Alright then, it's your choice."

Jack nodded at the holographic representation and walked off

"Well well, Jill, you may have just been on to something after all." said Cassandra before transferring herself to the computer system


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Good work, all of you. The data you recovered has got out braincases scratching their heads, so it looks like there won't be any more data retrieval missions for a while,"

Jill visibly saddened

"On the other note, excellent work in bringing back a Spartan complete with armour. This provides us with new possibilities that we never even considered."

"Is there anything else sir?" asked Julia

"No, thank you. You're all dismissed."

Gamma team left the room, all except Julia talking to each other in excited tones about what they would do with the armour.

Months later, after several successful missions, Gamma team were called back to the laboratory where project: Prometheus first began.

"Gamma team, please report to section two." Said the voice over the PA

They all walked in, elated over the against-the-odds mission they had just completed; they were tasked with destroying a top secret bioweapon research facility and they had pulled it off flawlessly. The team dynamics had greatly increased in this time, even Julia rarely scolded or threatened Jack, and he and Jill were now close friends. Jill had turned out to be a fun-loving and intellectual individual, and she brought out the best in Jack, who was nowhere near as open with others before he met her.

"Alright, all of your weapons and equipment have shown impressive effectiveness in the field, very nice work, all of you. We have something else we would like to trial, as well as other additions." The scientist turned around to the table behind him and indicated to several small, metal crossbows.

"Now I understand that these may not be the most practical of weapons-"

"Are you kidding? They're from the Stone Age! Crossbows? Seriously people?" Zhang said in an incredulous outburst

"Shut up Zhang, let the man finish. You didn't like your beam rifle until you found out that it was near-silent, and that you could synch your eyepiece with its scope." Remarked Hank

"Yeah, alright." Said Zhang sullenly, Hank glared at him further

"Sorry." Muttered Zhang, and Hank's relentless gaze lifted

"I know these aren't the most practical of weapons, but these have been fitted with every enhancement known to man; reinforced carbon-fibre frame for lightweight durability, variable armour-piercing arrowheads, high tensile strength alloy cable for the bowstring, magnetic acceleration channel for higher stopping power, automatic firing mode, and a little something we picked up from the Brutes,"

The scientist flicked a switch and the arms of the crossbow folded into the body, and a short blade extended out the front.

Hank whistled in admiration

"We hope to make this standard-issue among Assassins in the field, as they're not only stealthy, but effective at up to 350 feet."

"Holy shit, that's good for something that small." Said Zhang, now thoroughly impressed

"You think that's good, wait until you see what we have in store for you Mr Ho. Just over there." The scientist indicated to another table with gauntlets on it.

Zhang walked over to it and picked one up.

"What's so special about it?" he asked

"It has an in-built particle beam firing channel at the bottom, similar to your rifle. Useful at short-to medium range only, but deadly effective."

"Oh, now this I like."

"What else do you have for us Professor?" asked Jack, eager for more

"Well, we also have a jump-jet pack for heavy armour, advanced cloaking tech and shield tech that we pulled from that Spartan you retrieved as well as something we like to call the plasma glove."

"Plasma glove? Do I even want to know?" asked Julia, unimpressed

"It's not for you, so you don't have to. You get the shield tech."

Julia nodded, satisfied, keeping her arms folded

"Miss Monroe, you get the plasma glove. It is virtually as it sounds; a plasma pistol worked into a glove. Make a pincer with your fingers and release to fire, hold them until the bolt glows to fire an overcharged bolt that has-"

"An EMP-like effect. I know how they work, thanks." Finished Jill

"We also figured out how to make plasma grenades, so you'll be receiving a full set of them each. And Mr Jiles, you are getting active camouflage technology. Any questions?"

Jack put his hand up

"Yeah, where did you get all this? The Insurrectionists are good at recovering technology and all that, even though they lost one of our Huragok, but this stuff looks like new. Did the Covenant just give us this stuff?"

"Actually, that is something you may want to discuss with your higher ups. While you guys were away, ONI won the war. The Covenant has been dissolved, and there is now a cease-fire between humans and Sangheili."

Gamma team stood in shocked silence, even Julia raised her eyebrows in surprise

"This isn't a joke, is it?" asked Hank

"No, it's true. The full details are yet to be released publicly but the main thing is that we're not fighting aliens anymore. The rest will have to be revealed by someone else, I've already told you more than I should."

"Gamma team, please make your way to debriefing immediately."

"Yeah yeah, we know." Sighed Jill as Gamma team made their way to the governor's meeting room

"Hey Jack, I want to talk to you privately after debriefing. OK?" whispered Jill

"Yeah sure."

They entered the room and took their designated seats around the large cedar table. Governor Jiles was seated at the head of the table opposite them.

"It has come to my attention that you five are a little behind in current news. As you may know, humanity has won the war against the Covenant. Spartan John-117, Halsey's golden boy, has prevented the Halos from firing by sacrificing himself and saved the galaxy, la-di-dah-di-dah. A cease-fire has been established and we believe Lord Hood intends to reason with the Arbiter to negotiate a peace treaty."

"Well that's good isn't it? No more fighting, no more dying and wasted resources trying to keep ourselves hidden from two enemies, right?" asked Julia

"Yes and no, Venezia is a colony with a long and bloody history with the UNSC, and although it would be extremely unwise for them to attack us and wipe us out if they knew we were here, it's in the Templar's best interests to eliminate us before we can strike while they're vulnerable. They'll be a lot of spots that need refilling in their staff, and if we can get our people in them we can get an advantage. Now that the Covenant is off their backs, they can refocus their efforts to stemming the remaining rebels, and that means us along with them. And I don't think I have to remind any of you about that Vulture incident."

Gamma team all shook their heads solemnly

"Also, we have ascertained through means that I do not wish to disclose here, that the Spartan program was originally in order to eliminate us, and that they were only reassigned to fighting the Covenant because they were much worse."

"Then shouldn't we show them how wrong they were?" asked Zhang with a fierce look of determination on his face

"Not yet, we are going to bide our time, until we are well-enough equipped to take them on. And on that note, we should start your actual debriefing. Your objective was to infiltrate a top-secret biological weapons research facility in the Eridanus system and destroy all research, followed by a large amount of explosive charges set to destroy the life support system of the station in order to mask your escape. How'd it go?"

"Sir, all objectives complete, research destroyed, main researchers "accidently" sucked out into space and life support system compromised. Estimated delay of research is about three and a half years." Reported Julia

"The research was very interesting, I would have liked to see it myself." Said Jill

"If you saw the research then you'll know just how dangerous it is and why no-one should have it."

"Understood governor." Said Jill unhappily

"This is the last bit of information I'm going to show you, and I shouldn't even be doing that, but it is important." The governor pushed some buttons on his chair arm and a page appeared above the holographic emitter in the centre of the table, describing an encounter with a Covenant agent

"In order to ensure long-lasting conflict with the other humans we agree to supply you with certain technologies in exchange for, hey wait a minute! Are you telling me we're trading with the Covenant?" said Hank after reading the first part of the file

"Not the Covenant, just a small group who support us against the Templars, and let's face it, we need all the help we can get."

"But governor, aren't they only doing this because it makes us more vulnerable as a species so that they can wipe us all out as we're fighting amongst ourselves? "queried Julia

"No, the Elite I spoke to gave us his honour that they would not attack any Assassins as long as we provided them with our research data on the Forerunners."

"Ah, there's always a catch." Said Zhang sagely

"When wouldn't there be a catch in politics?" rebutted Jack

"Either way, if they try to stab us in the back, they're going to have another thing coming, wouldn't you all agree?"

Gamma team all nodded their heads in unison

"Alright then, dismissed."

The governor and Gamma team stood up and left the room

As everyone made their way back to their quarters, Jill pulled Jack aside in an abandoned room and closed the door

"What is it you wanted to tell me about?" he asked

After making sure there was no-one around to hear them, Jill said

"OK, you can come out now Cassandra."

Cassandra projected herself between the two of them

"I have the data, do you want to go over it with him around?"

"It's fine, we can trust him." replied Jill, working on the holographic display panel with the data from the research facility on the screen.

"Hey, isn't that-"

"Yes it is. Cassandra saw it and told me that there was more to it than we first thought, so I had her take a compressed copy of it before we blew it up. Nice job by the way."

"Thanks, it's fun making things explode."

"I know, you've told me a couple of times. Anyway, I'm going to go over this until I find out what's going on behind the scenes. There's much more to it than any of us know and I will need your help. Can I trust you not to tell anyone?"

"Absolutely," replied Jack immediately

"Really? Not even your uncle?"

"You have my word, by my honour." Said Jack, giving a mock bow

"That renaissance gentlemanly behaviour really doesn't work on you, you know. Leave that to your ancestors." Said Jill with a silly grin on her face

"Alright. When can I expect to be told everything?"

"Tomorrow. Hey, we're still on for, wingsuit gliding I think you called it, right? You said you'd teach me."

"'Course we are. I'll meet you by the cliffs in the morning."

"Ok then."

Jack turned to leave

"Oh, Jack, one more thing," called Jill from the room

Jack turned around, and Jill walked up to him and quickly kissed him on the cheek once. As she stood back, she blushed a little

"Thanks for not telling anyone. It, it means a lot to me."

Jack didn't show it on the outside, but he was too stunned to saw anything, so he just nodded and left.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The next morning, Jack went down to the mess hall and ate breakfast by himself. Jill was nowhere to be seen, but Zhang sat down opposite him with a bowl of HAL-O's and a glass of orange juice.

"Hey Jack, how ya doing?" asked Zhang before setting to his cereal

"Fine thanks. You?" replied Jack

Zhang didn't bother chewing before responding with "Eh, can't complain."

As he pronounced the 'p' a bit of high protein, low sugar cereal spat out of his mouth and landed on Jack's plate.

"Well, yes you can. In fact, that's what you do most of the time actually. And do me a favour, chew, swallow and _then _talk. I don't want to see what happens to things that go into your mouth." Said Jack, slightly disgusted

Zhang indulged him and swallowed before continuing

"Sooo, you and Jill huh?" he took another spoonful of cereal

Jack flinched slightly at the question, if Zhang noticed, which was almost certain, thought Jack, he didn't react

"Sort of. If you mean that we're a couple of something, then no; we're just friends."

"Right, that's why you two were alone together in that boardroom for a few minutes yesterday. What else could you have been doing besides making out?"

Jack blushed slightly as he recalled the kiss. It wasn't making out, actually Jack wasn't sure what it was. The more he learnt about Jill, the less he seemed to understand. It gave him a kind of thrill, like he never knew what was going to happen next.

"Aha! I knew it." Zhang smiled smugly as he leant back in his chair. After a few seconds he leant back forward with a serious look on his face, like someone who was about to impart their final wishes before they died.

"Try not to screw it up. You're at the age where you build up a reputation with girls, and it'll influence the kind of crowd you attract later. You seem like a nice enough kid, and it's obvious she's at least a little into you too. Make sure you don't waste a second being indecisive; if you want this to go all the way, you should check if you can hit the mark from where you are; plan your approach, find the best angle of attack and then take your shot."

"Zhang, are you talking about girls or about sniping?" asked Jack, the sudden change in Zhang's lingo not lost on him

"In this case, there's no difference. I should know; it got me in and out of several relationships before I made any long-term commitments. I suppose those rules may have changed now that the war's over and people can look to tomorrow without worrying about being vaporized by Covenant glassing beams but still, life is short," He took a swig of his orange juice "And she's a good person too, as far as I can tell. Middle twenties is a good time for people to experience new relationships, after that you learn how to make it go the distance but sometimes you make it in one go."

"What are you saying?" asked Jack, now a little confused

"I'm saying that if this is going to go somewhere with you two, or if this is just leftover hormones from adolescence, you should work hard towards whatever you want to do."

Zhang began again on his cereal

Jack sat quietly for a minute, contemplating Zhang's words. He was right; he should go for this if that was what he wanted. Without parents to help him through his teenage years, he just kept his distance from most people, rarely interacting directly, always an observer. It was this habit that was his saving grace which gave him some form of the social interactions he now enjoyed.

"I don't know; I need time to think about this." Said Jack, more confused than he let on

Zhang had finished his cereal and was downing his juice

"Ahhh, that's good. If you like, I'll take you down to the firing range. It always helps me think. Maybe it'll help you too."

"We have a firing range? I thought we just had a virtual training field."

"Well, we do, but I convinced some of the training marshals to let me set up a course down at the edge of the underground forest."

"Huh, alright then. Sounds good. Thanks for the tips and stuff Zhang."

"Anytime Jack," Zhang leaned forward and patted Jack on the shoulder before getting up and leaving the mess hall.

Jack set out to the cliffs, his wingsuit gliding equipment set out and ready to fly. As he started his pre-jump equipment checks, Jill came climbing up the cliff path.

"Hey Jack!" she called

Jack waved hello and waved her forward.

"So, how do you do this? The name doesn't quite make sense, I don't see any wings on this suit, just these flaps of fabric." she asked

"Well, one of my earliest memories of my dad was him telling me of an animal native to earth called the flying squirrel. It has stretches of skin between its arms and legs that allow it to glide from tree to tree. That's what this suit is based off. My uncle Alistair took me out to try this once and I loved it. He told me this was what military insertions used to get into secure locations from the top, because parachutes are large and slow. With this flight suit," he indicated his flight suit, with the same kind of stretch of material as a flying squirrel between the arms and legs "you can glide in much the same way as the animal. You keep your body flat and your arms and legs out, stretching the material so it's taught and catches the wind. You glide down until reach the ground, at the edge of the forest."

"Isn't that dangerous?" she asked, anxious

"Of course it's dangerous, only if you're careless. I was fine the first time I did it, and uncle Alistair was always very protective of me, he knew what he was doing and so do I. you're not the first person I've taught how to do this."

Jill seemed to be satisfied with his answer, and allowed him to help her into the second flight suit.

"I look ridiculous in this, don't I?" she asked, giving a slow turn

"Only as ridiculous as I look." Replied Jack

"Oh no, then I look completely ridiculous!" she said, obviously joking, and gave Jack one of her heart-warming smiles

The pair of them put on their helmets and began to talk through their mikes.

"Alright then, let's do this. Follow my lead. If you run into trouble, pull your chute. I'll come find you if that happens. Ready?"

"Ready!" she looked excited

"Alright then, get as good a run up as possible and-" Jack loped forward and took a nose dive straight down. Jill screamed and waddled towards the edge to look for him. As she approached the edge, he shot straight up as if someone had launched him out of a cannon.

"-Jump!" he finished as he came up

He levelled out and glided down the landscape. Jill, heart racing, slowed her breathing and took a run up, leaping off the cliff edge with so many years of training that she felt no fear when she was finally aloft. At first the experience was terrifying but she soon felt how good it was to fly. It wasn't something you could experience in a simulator- that was for sure. Jack slowed down a bit ahead of her and soon they were flying abreast of each other.

Jack looked at her and smiled.

"How is it?" he asked

"It's like nothing I've ever done before, like an air assassination that never ends!"

"Good isn't it?"

"Amazing!" she agreed

"I always found it so, not-human to do this, that's why it gives me such a feeling of freedom, like the laws of nature and humanity no longer apply to me."

"Sounds right."

The two flew over the vast expanse of forest for several minutes, Jack gave Jill some more tips on controlling her speed, direction and altitude. Eventually, the patch of ground with a long runway appeared on the horizon. Jack radioed Jill

"This is our stop. Bring yourself lower to the ground. You're a beginner so use your chute to stop."

"Okay."

They approached at a slower speed, gradually losing height until they were about two hundred feet above the ground. Jack signalled and Jill pulled on her ripcords and her chute blossomed out around her back, jerking her backwards to a grinding halt followed by a slow glide. Jack slowed until he was almost floating above the ground then touched down with ease. Jill floated down beside him, breathing heavily.

"That was incredible, can we go again?" she asked

"Nah, we should probably be heading back by now. It's a long trek back to the mountain, even longer to get back up to the ridge, and you want to walk as little as possible in this getup."

"Really? It doesn't feel that heavy."

"It's not, it's just ungainly; it gets in the way and snags on branches and rocks."

"I know what ungainly means Jack. Alright then. Shouldn't we have brought transport then?"

"Already on it." Jack reached down and pulled a flare from his belt that Jill hadn't noticed before and lit it, the near-invisible smoke trailed into the sky, its only identifying trait was the way the heated particles refracted the light that passed through them. Soon, a UH-144S Falcon appeared over the horizon and bore down on them.

"Is that our ride?" asked Jill

"Yeah, I pulled in a favour with one of the off-duty pilots to pick us up and take us back to the hideout."

"You know, it's not really a hideout; it's more like a base of operations or a forward command centre."

Jack smiled at her words,

"That's one of the things I like about you: you see things in an intelligently different way, to take something and analyse it, then put it back together in the most efficient way to view it."

"That's why I went into logistics and tactical. But I love field work, so that's what I signed up for."

The Falcon landed, and a woman's voice on the radio said

"Venezia Air, last flight back to mount Kallos. All passengers please take your seats and strap in."

"Venezia Air?" asked Jill with a wry grin

"Holly thinks she's funny." Jack said simply with a shrug and climbed aboard with Jill behind him. The Falcon's rotors picked up speed and it rose gently back into the sky and headed back to the mountain.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"You know, I used to be terrified of space travel; I mean, the general vastness of space, with no definable up or down, since it's in three dimensions you can travel any way you like, with no gravity to direct you. That's when uncle Alistair took me up for my first wingsuit gliding lesson. After experiencing the thrill of flying unaided, he told me that was what it meant to be in space, that you don't have to worry about your direction as long as you didn't hit anything too hard." Reminisced Jack

"Or something hits you." Interjected Holly over the radio

"Right, that too. Slipspace still kind of creeps me out a little though."

"I know what you mean," Jill shivered slightly "It gives me this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach."

"So that's something personal about me. Your turn."

"Well, let's see… Well, when I was six, I always wanted to be a supermodel." Said Jill

"What? Really?" said Jack

"Yeah, it sounds really silly now, being in the middle of a war and such, but that's what I wanted to do." Jill leant her head on the headrest behind her, as if recalling a long-lost memory

"I grew up on one of the outer colonies that weren't affected by the war so much, in a loose grasp of the Templars. But me and my sister, our favourite game was to get into mom's wardrobe and dress up and walk up and down the hallway, each laughing at how ridiculous the other looked in mom's oversized dresses and shoes."

"Well I'm sure you would have done a great job if you'd chosen to do that." Jack blurted out, suddenly feeling very embarrassed. In the cockpit, Holly looked over her shoulder and arched an eyebrow behind her helmet.

"Oh? What do you mean?" asked Jill, amused at Jack's reaction

"You know, you're good-looking and everything…"

There was a few seconds of silence then Jill burst out laughing

"Hahaha! Oh, you should see your face, you look as red as a tomato!"

Jack blushed deeper and Jill settled down

"But thanks, I'm glad you think I'm good-looking. You're not so bad yourself Jack. Maybe if you gelled up your hair a little," Jill ruffled Jack's helmet hair.

Now it was Jack's turn to laugh and Jill joined in.

A few more seconds of silence passed between them

"I really enjoyed myself today. Thanks for taking me out to do this." Said Jill

"I had fun too. I'd take you out again anytime you like- I mean out on a glide again, not like a date or that kind of thing, not a date-" Jack began to fumble over his words

"Jack calm down, I get that it wasn't a date. Besides, what kind of date would it be if you were to take a girl out to nearly meet her death?"

"Ah, well, I wouldn't have let that happen, because I kind of thought… I would be able to…"

"Well, you're both here now, so I guess Jack isn't such a bad guy after all. Even if this was a date, you guys made it out OK, and in this line of work, that's all you can really ask for, right?" asked Holly from the cockpit

"Good point Holly." _And thanks for jumping in there. _Jack added in his mind

"Then why don't we have a little experiment." said Jill "You can take me out on a date. A proper one, a nice dinner and all that kind of thing and we'll see how you do on your own."

"What!?" said Jack

"What's wrong? Is that such a bad idea?"

"No! No, not at all, it's just; I've never taken a girl out on a date before." Jack began to blush slightly and lowered his head into his collar in an attempt to mask it

"What? Really?" asked Holly and Jill simultaneously

"No, I never really interacted with people during my teenage years."

"Why not? You seem to make friends easily now."

"Yeah, I watched from a distance and observed the best way to approach someone in social situations, that's how I do that now, but I never saw anyone go on a date before, so I don't know how to go about doing that."

"Well, how about the night after our next mission you have to take me out somewhere nice. And make sure you come back in one piece so that you can make it happen."

"OK, OK I will. I'll do something special, and I'll keep it a surprise until I get back."

"I expect to be impressed, nothing short of amazing."

"I'll try not to disappoint you."

The next day, Jack went down to the animus training labs and looked for the doctor who trained him and asked

"Doctor, you said you compartmentalised each aspect of my ancestor's memories into specific training programs, right?"

"Yes, we took most of what was useful in a lot of situations; we have a range from 1400s to today. Why, what were you after?"

Jack fidgeted a bit before continuing

"I was wondering if you had any programs for um, dating."

The doctor stared at him with an amused smile on her face.

"If you don't that's fine, I just wondered-"

"Oh no, we have those. Some quite interesting ones too, some of your ancestors had a way with women. We use them for infiltration training; some of our undercover operatives have very little idea of how to seduce people into telling them vital information or letting their guard down to be assassinated."

"Really? Huh, either way, I figured that in order to pass on the genetic memories, they would have to had children, and in order to do that, they would have had to, you know."

"Yes, I do. Don't worry, I'll help you, and I'll save you the embarrassment of telling me what you plan to do with the knowledge. Since you have no parents to help you and governor Jiles is single, I suppose this is as close as you're going to get to guidance from your family members. Hang on while I load the program."

Jack sat down in the animus and synchronised with his ancestor, Edward Kenway. Jack was already familiar with this swashbuckling pirate Assassin, and slipped into the role easily. Only this time, he was dressed like a nobleman, bartering for permission to accompany his current landlord's daughter to a ball in London. Jack played through the experience successfully but didn't end up getting much useful information out of it.

Jack exited the animus and asked

"Do you have anything a little more, recent? I don't think appealing to her father is going to work."

"You're right, I didn't think that through, sorry. That was listed under ye olde dancing with a dating subtitle."

The doctor brought up a list of files on the screen

"OK, these are your last 17 ancestors, so about 500 years back. This should do it."

"If you're sure…" Jack shook his head disbelievingly and settled back in. the program loaded again and this time, Jack was experiencing his great-great-great grandfather, Jordan Miles; a wealthy businessman who lived around 2380-2468. Jack went through several stages of his life, noting how Jordan attracted women of high standards and upbringing, using his charm and wit to get their attention and his compassionate and mysterious nature to keep them hooked in. He was married three times and went on a countless amount of dates. After committing most of the good ones to memory, Jack was satisfied that he was ready.

He emerged from the animus confidently, thanking the doctor and then went to make preparations.

Three days later, Alpha, Gamma and Eta teams were called in to an emergency mission.

The 15 Assassins assembled around the holographic display, each of them hiding the concern as to what could be so important that an emergency mission had to be planned.

"Alright everyone, we just received word of a new weapons program being developed by Misriah armoury on Mars. You are to intercept a cargo transport en-route to Mars and use it to sneak into the plant undetected."

The leader of Eta team put his hand up

"Do we know the nature of this weapon?"

"Yes we do; they are attempting to reboot the military's old interest in microwave weaponry using a variation of microwave radiation and gamma ray transmission, and if our intelligence is correct, they will be able to fry the head of anyone inside a ship that's hit by the weapon, leaving it free for them to salvage our tech and secrets. We were too late to stop the initial testing so the best we can do is to destroy the full-size one and steal all data relating to it and hopefully either come up with a defence or an improvement for it. Eta team, you're in charge of destroying the weapon, Alpha, you're on data retrieval, Gamma, you'll be split up to provide assistance. Stroud, Ho and Jiles, you're with Eta, Monroe and Fuller, you're with Alpha. Any other questions?"

"Sir, isn't this mission extremely risky? We're going to Mars, it's not like it's one of those out of the way planets, this is practically attacking the lion's den head-on!" said someone from Alpha team

"Maybe so, but what other choice do we really have?" replied Julia

The Alpha team member remained respectfully silent

"Any more questions?" repeated the governor

Tense silence followed

"No? Good, everyone gear up, you'll be going in hard and fast but try to stay stealthy, this isn't a directly Templar-owned corporation so they won't hesitate to kill you, as they won't see any benefit of keeping you alive. Good luck to all of you," Jiles saluted "Nothing is true."

"Everything is permitted." Replied the Assassins

"That's all I have to say, now go!"

The Assassins ran to the Albatross-class dropships awaiting them at the end of the hangar. Once each was ready to go, the hangar was cleared of personnel and the ships launched. Once they were clear of the atmosphere, they docked with the cruiser _Jackdaw _which then engaged its upgraded slipspace drives and neatly sliced open the fabric of space as they knew it, revealing the extra dimension of space that allowed for faster than light travel at near pinpoint accuracy.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_Jackdaw_ exited slipspace just behind Jupiter, using its enormous size to mask its approach

The crew all exited from the cryosleep pods wearily.

"You know, with all these advancements we have that the UNSC don't, is it too much to ask for a more comfortable way to travel?" asked Zhang, slowly getting out of the pod

"Ah, quit your bitching. Just be thankful for what we do have. Without a lot of it, you wouldn't be here to complain anyway." Remarked Hank from across the cryo banks.

"Attention all staff, slipspace travel has been ceased, now travelling at sublight speeds until objective reached. ETA, 12 hours and 15 minutes."

Julia stood up and stretched, saying, "I'm going to take a nap, if any of you disturb me, I'm going to kill you." She walked out of the cryo banks towards the crew quarters

"Why does she need more sleep? She was just asleep for four whole days." Said Jack

"Probably a granny nap." Said Jill, and they both giggled

"Hey, you see those two?" said Zhang to Hank, away from them "I gave Jack some girl advice and it seems to have done the job." He said proudly

Hank guffawed at Zhang and when he calmed down he responded, "You gave Jack girl advice? Were you trying to get her to hate him or something? Why should he listen to you about girls?"

"Hey, I know what I want in a woman, and when I can see she doesn't have it, I cut it off. Not my fault of they take it badly." Zhang shrugged, "The kid seemed at a loss and from what I've seen, that interferes with the way he thinks, like he can't see his glasses on top of his head." Zhang smiled and nudged Hank with his elbow. Hank rolled his eyes and sighed

"Please, let's not tell the story again."

Out in space, on the other side of the solar system, the frigate _Montague _also dropped out of slipspace, carrying cargo for Misriah armoury. The captain was talking to his second in command at the mess hall about it,

"What is so important that they have to stick an ONI spook in with the cargo? We're not used to this kind of delivery crap."

"I agree sir, but you know we're not supposed to ask questions about it, especially when ONI is involved. But still, something's up. From what I saw on the inventory, it's just raw materials for making rifles. Everything else was classified."

"You may be right. I have a friend in JOTUN heavy who might be able to shed some light on the subject."

"I thought JOTUN and Misriah were rival companies?"

"They are, and Misriah has the bigger military contract, so who better to get information from than the jealous other guy?"

The lieutenant leaned back and nodded sagely.

"Of course, industrial espionage."

The frigate continued on its way towards Mars, passing Mercury in its orbit and slingshotting around the sun, increasing their speed and reducing travel time.

"Captain, target has slingshotted around the sun, as predicted. Your orders?"

"Continue on course, prepare to release the decoy. What's their ETA?"

"Approximately one hour."

"Good, I'll get the teams ready." The captain keyed in the PA in his chair arm,

"All Assassins involved in operation: RED PHOENIX please make your way to hangar bay two, we will be releasing the bait in exactly forty minutes. Good luck out there." The captain keyed the PA off

An Insurrectionist sergeant who was making notes for an evaluation for the continuation of their assistance with the Assassin order jotted down notes on his datapad, he hadn't said a word the whole trip, except to ask where the bathroom was. The captain was confident of this mission's success, because if it wasn't, none of them would be around much longer to worry about it.

The Assassins, all 15 of them, were assembled in hangar bay two, a mangled-looking civilian craft awaiting them.

"Please tell me we don't have to ride in that." said Hank resentfully

"Yes we do, Fuller. We need to look as banged up as possible; otherwise they won't care enough to "help" us." replied Julia.

It had been 35 minutes and the crew was making its final checks to make sure that they could still guide it out where it needed to be so that the target would see them. After they had done so, everyone got on board and got into extremely uncomfortable positions; Jack had to be stuck under a fallen beam and Zhang had his legs stuck between malfunctioning doors. All this was to increase the authenticity of the ruse they would use to appeal to the frigate captain's sense of humanity. With a final wave, the ship was jettisoned into space, where its minimal directional thrusters nudged it the direction of _Montague's_ course.

"Captain, you may want to see this." Said the radar operative onboard _Montague_

"What is it?" he asked, not sure at what he was looking at; it seemed like a hunk of space junk, until he recognised the extremely mangled shape of a civilian craft

"Ouch, what happened to them?" he asked

"Unknown sir, but we are receiving a distress call."

"Patch it through."

A grainy image appeared on the screen, and the bloodstained face of a woman could be just made out.

"Please, is… out there? We… elp, pirates attacke… immediate assistance." Said the woman, the transmission so garbled it was near impossible to make out what she was saying, but the captain understood anyway and ordered it to be picked up.

"Alright everyone, they're falling for it. They're changing course." Said Jill from the damaged comm screen

"Nice acting there girl, you good at this." Said the leader of Alpha team, a tall dark-skinned woman with braided dark hair

"Thanks, it wasn't that hard, honestly I want to get off this rust bucket as soon as possible, I'm worried the integrity of the hull will fall any second and we'll all be suffocating."

"Why you gotta think like that? Save it for when things go to hell. We got a mission to complete." She clapped Jill on the back hard and she fell forward a little

"Sorry, sometimes I don't know my own strength." The team leader went back to her team, making sure none of them were seriously damaged by the multitude of false injuries they had incurred.

_Montague_ brought them into the ship, their "luggage" was stowed in the hold and the passengers questioned

"We were on our way to Mars, back from a business trip with one of our few surviving contractors, when all of a sudden we were attacked by pirates, we had no idea where they came from or who they were, but they shot up our ship real good and stole most of our valuables. We were left dead in space and they'd taken our reactor. We had just enough power to keep life support and communications running until you found us. Thank you so much by the way. The last ship that passed us, in the other direction I think, they didn't even give us a second glance." Revealed Hank

"Alright, sounds like you folks went through quite the traumatic experience. Pirates are still a very real threat these days. Were they human or Covenant?"

"Human, all of them wearing hoods and they had some kind of knife that looked like it shot out of their sleeves."

"Well you folks just rest up. We'll take you to Mars since that's where we're going anyway."

"If you could drop us off at the JOTUN factory complex that would be great."

"Oh, well if that's the case, could you ask a friend of mine what this shipment is for? Everything's been classified at my end."

"Sure, what's his name?"

"Barry Marlow, works in R and D."

"OK, sure thing."

The captain stood up and walked back to the bridge, only to be intercepted by the ONI operative, and he was mad.

"Why have you taken survivors? That was not part of the mission, captain! Do I have to report you to my superiors for delaying an important mission?"

"I stand by my actions, sir, and respectfully ask that you trust my judgement. It's wrong for anyone to have to die out in space when help is right in front of them. I think that it's an admirable trait, especially in times like these. Don't you?"

"Oh, you'll get your 'admirable trait' alright, this delivery is of the utmost importance, you need to get it to its destination ASAP."

"And that's what we're doing. We'll make it there on time thanks to the gravity slingshot effect. That's why we took this course. Now if you'll excuse me-"

"I want them off this ship the minute we land. Is that clear?"

"Absolutely sir, now please allow me to return to the bridge to ensure that happens."

The captain sidled past the ONI man and jogged back down the corridor. The ONI man looked at the band of men and women who looked like they'd been through hell and back and glared at them, then turned and walked away.

"Alright, we're on board but we're not out of the woods yet. We still have to get to Misriah undetected. You all have your orders and routes, don't stray from them otherwise it could cost us all." whispered Julia to the assembled group, glaring sideways at Jack as she said the last part. Jack responded with a steely gaze.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

As _Montague _docked with the orbital tether, the Assassins were making sure their "luggage" was secure and picked up and left, thanking the captain, who smiled and waved them on their way, feeling immensely good about himself.

"Sucker, that ONI guy was right to scold him for picking us up. Well, at least we're here now, so I guess we have that to thank him for." Said Zhang to Hank

"I liked him; he seems like one of the few decent military folk left. Those kind of people are a dying breed, and such a tragedy too." He replied

"Ah, come off it. You're not telling me you're going soft on ONI now are you?"

"But he isn't ONI, just UNSC. He's just following orders, and those orders seem to be the kind taken with a grain of salt. He wasn't particularly fond of that ONI operative either."

"Buddy, enough. We got work to do. Get on the elevator and shut up for the rest of the trip down. Okay?"

Hank laughed, "That's rich, coming from you, _Ho._"

Zhang scowled

"Don't, don't ever do that again. You know how much I hate that."

"Yes, yes I do."

The Assassins boarded the tether and began their descent down to the surface of Mars. It had been terraformed a long time ago and had lost its meaning of 'the red planet.'

"Hey Jack, did you know that Mars used to be an uninhabitable planet?" asked Jill

"Yep, I hear it used to be just one big red rock with trace amounts of water."

"Did you also know it was named after the ancient Roman god of war?"

"No, I did not know that. Why would you name planets after gods?"

"Maybe because they looked up in the sky and though that was what they were."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Jill nudged Jack and brought his attention forward; the elevator was nearly at the surface

"We're nearly there. I'll see you later. And don't forget to stay alive so we can keep our date afterwards."

"You got it, I don't die easily." Replied Jack, clenching his fist in confidence

The elevator finished its descent and the Assassins casually departed in small groups in different directions.

About an hour later, an alarm went off inside Misriah armoury; an intruder had been detected in the north quadrant. Guards from all over the compound rushed to apprehend them, only to find out that it was a false alarm. Cautiously, some of the guards fanned out to determine the cause.

On a ridge at the south side, Zhang radioed the other Assassins

"Ok, most of the guards have been diverted. Alpha team, you're clear."

"Roger that. We're going in." replied the dark-skinned woman in charge of Alpha

She gestured to her team, Jill and Hank to follow her. The seven of them snuck around the back of the compound, Jill took out the cameras with her plasma glove's overcharge shot and they got in undetected.

As the guards who were investigating the disturbance at the north side fanned east, Eta and the rest of Gamma team made their way into the west side, narrowly avoiding another guard patrol. They approached the inner fence. A sign hanging off it said "Warning: electric fence. Intruders will be prosecuted."

Jack gave a chuckle and Julia crept forward and activated her plasma blade, cutting through the fence like it was nothing. The other eight members went through the hole, with Jack covering them invisibly.

Alpha team made their way into the facility that housed the vehicle production line. The computer terminal they had to access was on the other side, the facility guarded by two squads of patrolling soldiers. Alpha team split into close and long-range fighters, with the two snipers in Alpha covering both entrances. The other five Assassins went through the facility, moving along with the parts of the vehicles being constructed, the huge plates of metal being pressed into shape easily hiding the group as they stalked through the huge machines. Two Assassins from Alpha, Jill and Hank, headed towards the terminal. Flat against the wall, Jill indicated for Hank to cover her as she initiated the transfer. He did so, heaving the heavily modified turret off his back and into a position that let him cover all angles.

"Things are about to get heavy." He said to Jill

"That's fine, I know you're the man for the kind of job. Just make sure they die before we do and we're fine."

"Good, 'cause I think that one over there saw me."

Sure enough, a guard on the catwalk above them brought up his rifle and took aim. Before he could get a clear shot on either of them, a heavy weight dropped down onto him and a blade pierced his heart. He cried out in shock but was stifled by his own lips jammed together on the floor.

Jill continued with renewed vigour, bypassing all the standard security firewalls and hacking the classified file database.

"Damn it, these guys really wanted to keep this secret. I've never seen this level of encryption on a standard industrial computer."

"Can you crack it?"

"Of course,"

"Then we picked the right girl for the job. Hey, maybe this isn't a usual civilian computer system."

"ONI probably has their name written all over it. But if they really wanted to ensure the safety if their assets, they'd assign an AI."

Cassandra, who'd been silent up until now, commented, "Even if there was, I'm equipped with the latest and greatest in AAI software, and you have the hardware."

"AAI?" asked Hank

"Isn't it obvious?" retorted Jill getting back to work.

"Got it! Ok, planting infospike now."

Jill stabbed the port on the side of the screen and the data began flowing away at a vast rate of gigabytes.

Another guard saw the Assassin dispose of the dead guard and gave a yell. Recognising the danger, instead of engaging, he ran to the security panel to raise the alarm.

The other Assassin dropped behind him and ran to catch him. As he raised his silenced pistol and fired, hitting the back of the guard's knee, the guard had reached the alarm and his fingers brushed the touch pad, sending it into shut down instead of alarm. The guard hit the floor and then tried to climb back up and try again, but his venture was stopped short by a M225 semi-armour piercing round through his head. He slumped to the ground dead.

"Area is secure. Security system offline." Reported the Assassin

"Roger that, that makes my job easier." Replied Hank

"Alright, and we have a go." Said Jill as she pulled the infospike from the terminal with a flourish

"Alright everyone, let's move." Said Alpha team leader over the radio

Alpha team, Jill and Hank slunk back out the door and back through the way they came in.

Jack's team had just made it to the storage facility when things started to go bad. One of the taller Assassins had been spotted and fired at, a bullet wound through his shoulder incapacitated him and guards flooded in and pinned them in place.

"Return fire, frag arrows!" said Julia, the others willingly obliged. Jack pulled his crossbow off his back and looked down the sights, taking one who was next to another and firing. Seven high-speed arrows launched through the air, impaling the ground and people when they landed. Jack's shot hit right between the two guards and detonated, sending shards of metal into their sides and faces. The rest of the guards suffered a similar fate or had large portions of their bodies blown up. The rest who survived were taken out by the Assassins who charged in and took them out personally. Once the area was cleared, they made their way forward, the one who was injured had his shoulder patched up and biofoam applied so he could use his arm again.

"Split up, we'll take the front entrance. Eta, you take the rooftops." ordered Julia

The leader of Eta nodded silently in acknowledgement.

The teams split up accordingly, Eta team climbing the roof to cover the entrance. Jack was ordered to go in first, with Julia behind him and Zhang bringing up the rear.

Jack burst through the door, crossbow up. Two security guards standing next to the lift were caught off guard and brought their weapons up.

"Halt! You are in a restricted area. Put down your weapon or we'll- guh!"  
Jack shot the man in the neck, his spine snapped in half by the impact arrow tip. The other fired at Jack, but he went invisible after firing the first shot, making it near-impossible to hit him.

"Code yellow, I repeat, code yellow; sector three, casua-uhn."

Jack had stabbed the man in the heart, silencing his call for help. As he went to the door to motion the others in, he heard the response on the dead guard's radio

"Roger that, we'll send kill teams to assist. Stand by."

Jack's eyes went wide, and he ushered the others inside with haste, explaining the situation.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"They've got kill teams coming for us; we need to get to the objective quickly." Said Jack, appearing calm while he panicked internally. This wasn't lost on Julia,

"Why are you so scared? You killed a Spartan before, you could take out a kill team of ODSTs. And even if you won't, I will." Replied Julia, utterly calm

"Actually, kill teams are highly trained operatives, nowadays they're only used to guard high-priority assets and sometimes they have Spartans with them. This microwave thing must be pretty good if that's the case." Commented a member of Eta team who'd dropped down off the roof

"Not the point here, the point is they have one coming after us. Let's get out of sector three as quick as possible." said Jack, motioning towards the elevator. The eight Assassins gathered in the large elevator that had plenty of room for them to walk about in. Zhang took the opportunity to set up his rifle in the meantime, covering the whole underground area they were descending into. As they came halfway down the chute, the full picture was revealed to them: a massive machine, with a large circular dish sticking out the front and angled towards the sky stood in the middle of the cavern. People milled about, making adjustments and preparations.

"Holy shit, they're planning to fire that thing at ships?" exclaimed Jack, dropping a rare curse, a habit picked up from Hank

"Obviously. That's our target. Are the charges ready to go?" asked Julia

"Yes, stolen Fury tac-nukes prepped and ready to go." Replied an Eta team member

Fury tactical nukes were the equivalent of nuclear grenades, they would blow a sizable hole in the weapon and the EMP would fry any data Alpha and Gamma hadn't already stolen.

"Everyone in position. We're too far out for them to notice us but watch our sixes anyway, Ho." Said Julia

"Yes ma'am. I'm your shooter."

"Jack, you scout the area cloaked. When your power unit begins to decline, hide until it recharges. We can't afford to waste time with you constantly retreating. Everyone else, wait for his signal to go."

Julia walked towards Jack slowly and said to him quietly, "You'd better not screw this up, because if I have to haul their asses out of the fire, you turn off the lights. Got that?"

Jack swallowed, "Got it." Jack knew that 'turn off the lights' meant that it was up to him to finish the mission, no matter what the cost.

Jack engaged his cloak and stalked through the crates, machinery and personnel. No-one noticed the slight shimmer of his outline, and for that he was eternally grateful. As he approached a large crane that was fitting an antenna to the weapon, his cloak began to flicker, and he dashed into the shadows. As he waited for his cloak to recharge, he radioed the team that it was safe to continue forward. One at a time, the Assassins crept forward, occasionally taking one or two engineers along the way, quietly. Once they'd reached the depot Jack hid at, his cloak was fully charged and Julia hissed for him to hurry up. He obliged, disappearing from view.

"Approaching the drop site now. Bring me the nuke, on my mark… now!" hissed Jack through his radio

The Assassin crept forward, the fury tac-nuke cradled in her hands like a newborn. Even though it wouldn't detonate unless the detonator was switched or the bomb tampered with, she still understood the implications of the nuclear device's potential.

She left it on a crate near Jack's position and made a break for the exit, having all the other charges set to blow that would bring the whole cavern and ground above it down. She ran as fast as she could, her backscatter visor indicating any potential onlookers spotting her from behind a crate. What she didn't see was the engineer on break, coming down from his station who just happened to look down to check his footing and saw her. As his eyes widened in surprise at a person in a hooded cloak running for the lift, which was strictly not allowed, a near-silent beam of charged particles cut neatly through his forehead, ceasing any further thought. As his body fell to the ground with a loud thump, two guards saw it and pulled out their pistols and called and emergency. An alarm triggered and the remaining Assassins bolted.

"Shit." Whispered Ho

"Ho, cover our escape. We're coming up." Said Julia through the radio

"But what about Jack?"

"He's turning off the lights, he'll be fine. We, on the other hand, won't be unless you cover our escape, I see wolf spiders being brought online throughout the cavern. Take them out."

Zhang sighed, "Roger that, acquiring targets."

Zhang looked through his smart eyepiece, linked to the scope on his rifle, and targeted the weak spot on each of the wolf spider's mechanism, causing them to instantly shut down and self-repair, giving Eta team a few more minutes to escape. After he took out the one closest to the elevator, he looked for Jack. After a few seconds of determining whether or not that shimmer was him, he spotted him picking up the tac-nuke and making his way to the bomb site.

"Come on Jack, make it damn it make it!" he muttered under his breath

The rest of the Assassins had made it to the elevator and were ready to ascend. Julia hit the switch and Zhang was forced to pull his rifle back and abandon Jack

"Good luck Jack, make it count." He said to himself

Jack ran as fast as his legs would carry him, the tac-nuke tucked under one arm like a football, though he'd never played the game. Bewildered workers tried to get a grip on what they'd just seen, but as Jack still had his cloak on they weren't quite sure of what they saw. Jack reached the drop zone and set the tac-nuke away under a support beam that would reduce the whole machine to a pile of scrap. Satisfied that no-one would find it, Jack set the timer to fifteen minutes and began to make his escape, pausing to let his cloak recharge before setting the timer. Jack turned to leave, but saw a Spartan with HAZOP armour come out of the door, followed by a group of ODSTs.

_ONI really went all out on this one; they did put a Spartan in the kill squad. _Thought Jack

"Spread out, get everyone out of here. We need to find that interloper and eliminate him. Testing is due in less than 24 hours and we can't afford any more setbacks." ordered the Spartan

The ODSTs hastened to obey, getting the remaining personnel out of the cavern and into the radiation shielded control area. The Spartan walked throughout the crates and machinery, making sure there were no more stragglers when suddenly stopped, stood still and turned his head towards Jack.

Jack froze, aware that the Spartan shouldn't be able to see him, but nonetheless anxious.

One of the ODSTs walked up to the Spartan and tapped him on the shoulder

"Uh, sir, we got all personnel out, though several are unaccounted for, a crane operator whose shift ended five minutes ago-" The ODST stopped when he realised the Spartan was looking intently at the top platform of the weapon

"Sir? Is something wrong?"

"I got a radar jammer somewhere here, just a faint trace, but the interloper might be using it to mask his trail." said the Spartan in a lowered voice "Fan out and set up for a triangulation."

The ODST nodded and told the others to do as instructed.

Jack could see them fan out around his position, and concluded that they would soon find him. He had to get out of there before that. He went to the edge of the weapon and lay flat on the floor, pulling his crossbow off his back and aiming at the nearest marine, his neck in clear view. Jack pulled the trigger, and the mechanism triggered, sending the bolt through the marine's spine and into the device he was setting up, shattering the readout screen. Another marine heard the glass shatter and went to investigate. Jack used the opportunity to sneak away in the opposite direction. As he approached the ladder leading back down, the Spartan came up, right in front of Jack. Both of them froze, staring into each other's face for a few seconds, until Jack's cloak faded away.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The Spartan jerked his head back in surprise and made to punch Jack's face. Jack easily avoided the attack and darted back, looking for another way off the platform. The Spartan leapt up and pulled his assault rifle off his back and fired after Jack, who was hiding behind a generator. Bullets pounded the metal around Jack, ricocheting off and careening in every direction. The Spartan stopped firing and snuck forward to investigate. Jack took a deep breath and flicked on his energy blades. Leaping over from cover, the Spartan was right on top of him, and Jack had no time to react before the Spartan pushed him back with his rifle.

Jack slid across the platform, very close to the edge. Jack ran forward, straight at the Spartan, intent on bringing him down. The Spartan raised his rifle and fired, but Jack deflected the bullets with his blades, painfully. The Spartan was about to reload but Jack was already on him, slashing through his rifle and knocking away his secondary pistol, which fell over the edge.

The two wrestled until Jack spat on the visor of the Spartan, who shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Using this moment of distraction, Jack made to stab the Spartan in the chest, only to be thwarted by an ODST firing his battle rifle at the two, causing Jack to retract his hand out of concern for it being shot off.

The Spartan kicked Jack up and over his head, sending him flying into an ODST by accident. The ODST got up but Jack had already stolen his rifle and kicked him over the edge, firing at the other four with pinpoint accuracy. The Spartan threw a piece of his ruined assault rifle at Jack and hit him square in the back of his head, dazing him. As Jack turned slowly around, the Spartan had launched a flying kick designed to send him over the edge in much the same way the marine did, but Jack regained his senses and fell flat on the ground just in time. The Spartan fell over the edge but caught the edge of neighbouring platform and hauled himself up.

"Come in control, this is Spartan Cole-009. Start up the firing sequence now, we got a hostile in here that needs frying. Worry about the target later, just do it." said Cole over his radio

A second or two passed when the machine underneath Jack began to rumble like a beast awakening from its slumber. The Spartan watched as Jack nearly lost his footing on the unstable surface, and then made a running leap onto Jack's platform, rolling with the landing, coming up in a defensive stance

"I don't know who you are, but I know you're here to cause some trouble, and that's what I'm here to prevent. So you'll have to die. But you did just kill my squad, so fair's fair."

Jack took up his own defensive stance, his energy blades sizzling in the increasingly charged air.

"I reckon you have about five minutes until you die from overexposure to radiation and you brown like a baked potato." Said Cole-009

"Then I'll just have to beat you in four." Responded Jack

The two rushed at each other, exchanging a series of furious blows; Jack mostly dodging and Cole being careful about where he put his blows, as Jack could easily take off an appendage with the energy blades.

Jack tried everything he knew to keep himself from being overwhelmed by the Spartan's superior strength; dodging and making use of his smaller size and faster movement speed. After a near-deadly exchange, the table finally shifted, Jack nicked the Spartan's armour, his shields flickering and sputtering where the blade pierced it, until it boiled away at the titanium-A alloy that made up a Spartan's armour and revealed the pale skin beneath. Jack pressed his advantage, pushing the Spartan closer to the edge where the large emitter dish stuck out from the weapon, pointed at an angle at the ceiling. Jack brought his hand back for a thrust but Cole sidestepped it and roundhouse kicked Jack in the back, sending him over and breaking a rib. Jack tumbled down, tried to right himself and caught hold of a handhold in the dish.

Cole-009 looked over Jack, dangling helplessly as the dish warmed up to full power

"This is Spartan Cole-009 to control, fire when ready." Said Cole over the radio

The dish angled up a little more, now on a 45 degree angle towards the ceiling. Jack could feel the dish warm up and become very hot as the radiation built up around him. He began to feel very hot, and he knew that even if he got out of this mess, he would probably die of radiation poisoning. Cole stood back a bit from the edge and looked up at the ceiling.

"Hey, maybe if you're lucky, the ray will hit your evac transport, and no-one will miss you. Hahaha!" Cole laughed at Jack's inevitable demise when the suddenly Jack heard the sound of more gunfire, but it was too rapid for a rifle. Then he heard another noise, like the of a jetpack

"Woohoo! It's rainin' hellfire!" came Hank's voice from high above. Cole saw Hank flying through the air with his brute thruster pack and machine gun turret firing at him. Cole ducked behind a generator and Hank landed, laying down suppressing fire, while Julia came at Cole from behind.

Julia slashed, stabbed and swung at Cole, striking here, there and everywhere, scoring hits all over his armour and cutting it to shreds. Cole tried to knee her in the head when she went for a low strike but it was a feint on her part, and she thrust up into his jaw, killing him instantly. As his body fell to the ground, Julia went over to the edge and looked for a way to get Jack back up.

"Julia? Is that you?" asked Jack, the heat so much it was getting harder to keep his eyes open, it felt like they were on fire.

"Yes, it's me. We came to rescue you. When your biomonitor started giving radiation poisoning readings and we figured something went wrong, so we came back for you." She replied, actually sounding concerned

"Just get me off this dish, I think I'm dying here!."

"Monroe, can you shut this thing down?" asked Julia to Jill, who was at a console attached to a generator

"Already on it, disconnecting main power supply, now!"

The heat on Jack finally subsided, but he still felt like he was being slowly cooked from the inside out and his muscles were burning from hanging there so long. Julia swung a chain from one of the cranes over and Jack slowly grabbed hold of it. Hank pulled him up onto the platform.

"I guess I owe you one." Said Jack wearily, leaning on Hank's huge frame for support

"Yeah, you do, and now we're equal; we've both killed a Spartan." Said Julia

Jack smiled, and then passed out, the last thing he saw was Jill running towards him, screaming "_No, no!"_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Jack had intermittent flashes of what happened over the next few weeks:

_A huge explosion felt through the arms of whoever was carrying him_

_Moving down a corridor on a stretcher, or maybe being carried_

_The inside of a ship's sick bay_

_A light being shone in his eyes_

After that, the sensations began to be further apart

_The feeling of being suspended in liquid that felt like water but had the consistency of jelly_

_His uncle saying to him, "_Jack, if you can hear me, we have a way to heal you, but it will be very unorthodox. I can't guarantee its success but it's the best shot we have. Just nod or shake."

Jack nodded, and then slipped back into unconsciousness.

_Looking down, and seeing a white sheet covering his body _

_Being poked at and prodded by machines and people, all very fuzzy and faint_

_Intense pain in his spine that woke him up with a shock_

_A feeling of cold mercury flooding his consciousness_

_His Uncle Jacob, Zhang, Hank and Jill standing over him, with concerned looks on their faces, his fingers twitching against his will_

_A voice with a heavy Italian accent commenting on the state of his mind_

_The feeling of his skin becoming covered in a layer of fluid, encased in a skin-tight suit, with weights on it_

_A dark box going over his head, cutting off all light_

When Jack finally woke, his muscles felt weak, like he had been in bed for months. But the rest of him felt like it was brand new, strong and firm bones, a sharp and clear mind, but nothing in it, like a blank slate. Jack tried to speak but all he could manage was a groan. The lights were out, or was his head still in the box? Either way, he couldn't see anything. He tried removing the box, only to find it was more of a dome-shape, and that he had lost most of the sense of touch in his fingers.

All of a sudden, the Italian voice could be heard echoing about the room

"Ah, good, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Jack shook his head slowly

"Confused, aren't you." it wasn't a question "It will take some time for you to acclimatise with the armour's systems. I'm here to help you through the process. Try sitting up."

Jack arched his back forward in an attempt to sit up as instructed, he wasn't sure why he trusted this man, but something in his voice sounded familiar, and it sounded like it could be trusted. Slowly, he sat up, his body feeling a hundred times heavier than before.

"Alright, your muscles are still able to respond to your brain. So that's alright." With the heavy accent, the voice rolled the 'r' and stretched the 'i.'

"Where, where am I?" stuttered Jack

"You are inside Mount Kallos, you are safe. It's the middle of the night, we weren't expecting you to wake up now."

"Mount Kallos, but how?"

"Gamma team pulled you out. They brought you back here and kept you alive from the radiation poisoning. You were lucky that we had just finished developing this technology successfully enough to implement it; it's treating the poisoning as we speak."

"Who, who are you?"

"Ah, I was told you would be full of questions. I am an AI, Ezio."

Jack suddenly realised why the voice sounded so familiar, it was the voice of his ancestor, one of the greatest Assassins who ever lived; Ezio Auditore.

"But you lived thousands of years ago, how did we get a scan of your brain?"

"You already had it, in the animus. Enough small talk, we should get the others here now, they'll want to see how you're doing."

"How am I doing? What am I wearing anyway?"

Ezio didn't respond for a moment

"Ezio, what am I wearing?" persisted Jack

"You are wearing the newest iteration of Spartan armour, specially developed for Assassins, by Assassins and modified to keep you alive through the treatment. We call it, the Ascendance project. You are not an average Spartan, with your training and the augments we installed, you are even better, you are an Archon."

Jack let the news sink in. A Spartan? How? They managed to reverse-engineer the whole armour already, even the implantation process? Jack couldn't believe it, but while he'd been listening to Ezio, his body started growing stronger, like it was rebooting. He could move properly again, and a display came up on the darkness in front of his face, a heads-up display showing his vitals stabilising. He looked up and down himself, but he couldn't see anything in the pitch black darkness of the unlit room. Suddenly, the display glowed green and he could see his outline clearly, he was indeed wearing what appeared to be mark VI Spartan armour, but it appeared to be more streamlined, more contoured.

He looked up again and saw Ezio appear on the holographic display, as he was in the later years of his life, in full Assassin robes, much like the ceremonial ones modern Assassins wore.

"The others are on their way, your uncle and girlfriend are coming too."

"She's not my girlfriend,:" Jack tried to say, but he fumbled over the words and said something incomprehensible. Before he could correct himself, people in white lab coats entered the room, switching on lights and bringing equipment online. Jack's night vision automatically turned itself off at the higher light intensity.

"Subject is at normal body temperature, his vitals are stable and his cognitive functions are in order." Said a doctor at a monitor

"We're showing green across the board here, armour diagnostics report a full acceptance by subject."

"Hey, guys, I'm right here and I can hear you." said Jack to the assembled people, who stopped and looked at him in amazement

"Amazing, he's already accustomed to the armour's systems. How do you feel Mr. Jiles?" asked a doctor

"Better now, what's the status of the radiation poisoning?"

The doctor looked at a screen on the wall and back to Jack

"We've identified the mutation pattern in your cells and we've created a hormone that will instruct your cells to conform to your original DNA pattern, but it is a slow and complicated process, I won't bore you with the details. Your body must be constantly transmitted the artificial hormones for it to work, otherwise your body might begin to reject them. We've had to modify your cell cycle too, as the radiation gave you some kind of cancer. You have to stay in that armour for a while."

"How long is a while?"

"We're not sure, we'll give you check-ups regularly to find out when you can take it off, but until then, only your helmet and nothing else; your hood had radiation shielding woven into the fabric which protected you from the brunt of it, which is how you're still alive. The armour is self-sustaining, so you won't have to worry about bodily functions or starving to death. Also we have Ezio ready to go so you will have someone monitoring your body, as well as a dumb AI to run the nanobot repair systems we extrapolated from our last remaining Huragok, Heavier Than Most."

"What else does this armour have? It sounds like something that the Forerunners would have invented."

The doctor nodded, "The Archon mark II armour contains all the basic functions of a Spartan III, with several modifications. Yours has the hormone dosage regulator, suspended in a biofoam injector similar to what the mark-V Mjiolnir armour had, as well as our own special composite material heavy armour for your vital areas, and high-impact resistant body underglove. Other functional additions include, two energy blades, one in either wrist gauntlet, as well as the particle beam weapons that your friend Ho was able to field-test, sound muffling joints, nanobot repair system, smart link to your weapons, slot for AI, real time HUD display, multi-coloured visor tinting with default black, holographic overlay for blending in with other soldiers and environments, and finally, although this is more a style addition, we have been getting complaints about headshots, so we put in a bullet hood: a retractable hood that covers most of your helmet and shields it from stray or intentional fire."

"Does it have extranet?" asked Jack sarcastically

"Actually, yes it does. Ezio will run you through your armour's systems when he has time."

By this time, Jill and governor Jiles had entered the room.

"Jack! Oh I'm so glad you made it. We were all afraid you were gone. I would never forgive myself for letting both my brothers and my nephew go under my watch. Jill here wouldn't be quiet about your recovery." Said Jiles

Jill ignored the comment and went up to Jack, shoving her way past the small crowd of doctors.

"Jack? Is that really you in there?" she asked

"Hey, Ezio, how do I tint my visor to make it clear?" Jack was about to ask when the visor did just that.

Jill visibly lightened up when she saw he was alright and gave him a hug around his head, then just as quickly released him

"You've been out cold for weeks, we though you weren't going to make it."

"Speaking of which, you will need to see this." Said Jiles, handing him yet another sheaf of papers.

"You really do like to do things the old fashion way, don't you uncle."

"Nothing wrong with a good piece of paper and a pen is there?"

Jack read through the papers at a speed that surprised him. When he got to the end, he put it down and spoke without looking at anyone.

"You can't be serious." He said quietly

"No, I am. And the only logical answer is that-"

"I read it. I just don't believe it."

"What? What is it?" asked Jill

"My uncle is still alive."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"So, what have you found Jiles?" asked the Templar grandmaster, Henrietta Balenka

Alistair rubbed his face, lingering on his scar, a habit he'd developed long ago

"Not much, the Assassins have gone quiet. After that attack on Misriah I haven't been able to intercept any more transmission." Replied Alistair

"Well, at least you're earning your keep here. The training is good, but we all have to pull our own weight here. You're the only person who understands the way your brother's mind works."

Alistair grimaced

"I know, but I didn't want to have to be directly against the Assassins if at all possible. I agreed to train your soldiers how to survive against an Assassin and how to fight them better, and you forced me to intercept their transmissions and decode them for you, but I really don't want to be a part of this vendetta we have going here. Now that the Covenant has finally ceased its relentless attempt to kill us all, I think we should be directing our efforts to making sure it doesn't happen again."

Balenka smiled

"Don't worry, our agents inside ONI have made sure that the remains of the Covenant will be so busy they won't even have time to think about attacking us."

"So, this is what happened after you passed out:" began Hank, "We carried you out, as fast as we could. Had to set off the charges around the facility to distract the guards. When we finally got to the safe zone and the tac-nuke detonated, dropships came bearing down on us! I was able to take out one, and Zhang shot two of the pilots and we hijacked the fourth and rode it back to _Jackdaw. _The medical team was able to keep you stable while we made our daring escape through slipspace. Nearly crashed into the mountain we were going so fast. We rushed you to intensive care and they began work immediately, putting you in some kind of electrostatic gel or something, I don't know, but it seemed to do the trick. After that, apparently you said yes to the 'alternative treatment' bullshit they were on about. Alternative treatment? How is turning you into a supersoldier alternative treatment? I don't know Jack, but it worked. The doctors say you can perform better than normal within the suit and you should be back to normal within three months."

"That's a long time to spend in a metal suit." Remarked Jack

Hank nodded sympathetically

"I don't know what your uncle was thinking, but I heard that he's taken too much from losing so many family members. I can understand that, but you getting all this special treatment isn't good for anyone else."

"Right, but there's not much I can do about that. Uncle Jacob is just trying to take care of me as well as everyone else in this mountain."

"Whatever you say Jack."

Hank stood up and dusted himself off. He walked over to the weapon rack and picked up a heavy machine gun turret and mounted it on the barricade, aiming down the lane at the targets 100 metres away. He opened fire, tearing into the target with ferocious efficiency. After a few seconds of continuous fire, he lifted it off the barricade and indicated for Jack to have a go.

Jack nodded and stood up a little too quickly, almost losing his balance. The Archon armour was not only enhancing his natural abilities immensely, but its weight was throwing him off. He would need to rectify that soon.

He walked up to the barricade and held up his arms sideways. Two small purple reticules appeared on his visor, shifting slightly as he adjusted his arms. He gave a quick mental command and the energy gauntlets fired a small particle beam that sliced through the bullseye and scarred the wall behind it. Jack loosed his muscles and put his hands by his sides, waiting for the automatic system to kick in.

A target popped out of the ceiling 50 metres away, Jack's heightened reflexes and Ezio's calibrations made his aim spot on; piercing each and every bullseye that came into view milliseconds after they became visible. After the last one was down, he went back and sat next to Zhang, who was watching with disdain

"Show off. Just because you have an automated targeting system doesn't mean you have to go flaunting it every opportunity you get." Said Zhang

"Maybe so, but I have to get used to it all the same. If I'm going to wear this armour and have the right to be called an Archon, the Spartan warrior Assassin, I have to be every bit as good as any of them." He replied

"Yeah, but without that helmet you're only as good as you were before you had that armour." Rebutted Zhang

"And that's why Gamma still needs you, buddy." said Hank, clapping Zhang on the back. Zhang cheered up a little bit after that, and after another half hour's training they all retired to the mess hall. On the way there, Jack suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, Hank. Did you ever follow up on that lead at JOTUN? That guy the captain mentioned to you? What was his name?"

"Barry Marlow. Yeah, I found him and asked him what the shipment was for. He gave me some information he had stowed away for that captain who picked us up. The data was encrypted but I sent it to our guys anyway. They found out that ONI is manufacturing weapons to sell to the Sangheili to keep them fighting between themselves. The kicker is that the weapons have radioactive tracers built into them so that ONI can track where they go. I don't know why they'd want to do that though."

Jill was waiting for them when they arrived at the mess hall. She walked up to Jack, Ezio silently displayed a face-analysing software that told Jack exactly what her face was telling of her feelings: she was calm, yet troubled, as if about to release a great burden that she wasn't sure she should. Jack shook the thought out of his head and quietly told Ezio to keep out of this. He pulled off his helmet and shook out his hair, badly messed up the confines of the Pilot-variant helmet.

"Jack I- I know that this is hard for me, and that you might be enjoying all this attention, but it's been a week now since you came back to us. I know you've been busy with your training and- hey guys, could you give us a moment alone here?" she glared at Hank and Zhang, who were both grinning like idiots at the conversation. They sobered up and slunk away, talking excitedly in hushed tones.

"And I know that I still want to be friends, what I'm trying to say is, I was looking forward to us on a date, and now that you've gone and put that armour on, it's like you're a whole different person."

Jill paused, as if to allow Jack to interject, but he remained silent so Jill continued

"Look, I'm no idiot, and I know you're not; we both knew what was happening between us, and honestly it was happening all a bit too fast."

_Although it was you who asked me out, sort of…_ thought Jack to himself

"So although I really don't like the fact you have to wear this suit just to make sure you stay healthy, I suppose it gives us the chance to take things slowly from now. Right?"

"Jill, I completely understand what you mean. I like you, and if this suit is going to get in the way of anything between us, then I'm really sorry, but I think whatever it is will have to be postponed until then."

Jill looked relieved

"Oh good, I was afraid you would take it the wrong way. Alright then, want to get some lunch?"

"Oh yes, I'm starving."

Over the course of the next week, Jack's days fell into a routine: get up, train, eat breakfast, spar, study, train, eat lunch, train, calibrate armour, eat dinner and then do whatever took his fancy. Jack was getting fed up with being stuck in a mountain with people who stared at him every time he walked by, and some even attacked him, believing him to be a Spartan who somehow made it within the mountain but were always deterred by either Jack or their peers. He hungered for some real action and at the end of the first week, he got it: a mission to take out a local Kig-yar pirate band on Venezia. They had been attacking New Tyne and intercepting the Assassin's chain of supply and needed to be stopped. Jack was going in as primary with the rest of Gamma backing him up.

"These are no small-time pirates, they have taken over the T-38 cannon outside of New Tyne and according to our reports they have a lot of members at their disposal, however they are probably undisciplined and will go down easily. If at all possible, try not to damage the T-38, it's our best AA defence." Ezio told Gamma as they rode in on a troop transport Warthog to the T-38 Covenant anti-aircraft emplacement

"Roger that Ezio. We should be fine." Said Jack

"Yeah, he's got us to back him up if things go screwy." Said Zhang

"Good, 'cause if we sent you in it'd be the other way around." Said Hank

Julia said nothing but gunned the Warthog a little more, jerking everyone forward a little.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Jack approached the AA emplacement under the cover of darkness; his armour completely silent on the dusty ground. From the ridge he could see the expanse of forest next to the highway that led into the city of New Tyne. Up ahead, he could hear the squawks of the Kig-yar amplified in his helmet. He turned on his night vision and tinted his visor to a complete black, along with his armour, rendering him near invisible, and that was without his cloak. As he approached the encampment, he could see Kig-yar snipers patrolling the upper tier, oblivious to his presence. Jack waited until all of them had gotten a target lock on all three of them, then fired with his gauntlets from his position in the shadows, briefly revealing his position but killing all three so fast that they didn't have time to respond. Jack sprang from his hiding place and ran for the side of the cannon, scaling it like a spider up the side. As he clambered up he changed his armour colour to match the midnight blue and dark purple of the Covenant metals to mask his approach once again. As he climbed up he stood face to face with an extremely surprised Kig-yar who attempted to jump back once it realised what it was looking at, but its legs went backwards without the top half of its body. Jack pulled out his two M6C pistols from the side of his legs and stormed the interior of the turret, killing all but one Kig-yar, who attempted to run away, its shield gauntlet thrown up in defence.

"Oh no you don't." said Jack to himself, Ezio targeted the perfect angle to hit the Jackal with an arrow to cripple it from this distance while Jack took out his crossbow and lined up the shot.

"Little to the right, there!" said Ezio and jack took the shot, hitting the Kig-yar in the foot, pinning it to the ground with a high-impact tip arrow. The Kig-yar stumbled, but the bolt held fast and Jack walked up to the struggling alien and held it by the throat.

"Where is the pirate base? And if you don't tell me, I'll just have to start plucking out your spines, one by one." Said Jack

The Kig-yar was unfortunate enough to understand English and responded in a croaking voice, "Base at caves under city, please, let me go."

Jack released the alien and contemplated letting it go, when Ezio interrupted, "We should knock him around a bit, just to make sure he won't squawk."

Jack hit the Kig-yar on the top of its head, knocking it out cold, then went back to the Warthog.

"They're in the caves at New Tyne. See if you can get us there downwind." Said Jack as he climbed back into the Warthog

"You got it." said Jill, who was now driving

The Warthog spun into gear and roared down the track, leading back to the main road.

They drove up to the caves, a series of gaping holes scattered throughout the landscape.

"They must be in one of these caves," said Zhang

"Or they could have booby-trapped all of them, and could be somewhere else entirely." Replied Hank

"That is true, what do you suggest then, Jack?" asked Julia

Jack was taken aback at Julia's request for his input,

"Well, we should recon the area to make sure that there are no booby-traps, and if there are, disable them. Jill, that's you."

Jill nodded and proceeded with caution, her plasma glove out in front of her. Zhang covered her with his sniper rifle, spotting no enemies, but several mines. He painted the targets and Jill disabled them all until the path was clear. The rest of Gamma team moved in and scattered among the various caves.

"Jack, I don't like this. It's too quiet." Said Zhang over his radio

"Wait, I hear something up ahead. Sounds like Jackals." Hissed Hank, who was in another cave

"Hold position, try to stay undetected. We're on our way." Replied Jack, who then relayed instructions to go and back him up. As the team assembled, outside the mouth of the cave, Jack made hand signals to go on his mark. He counted down in his head and swung into the cave, pistols up. But all he saw was Hank dusting off his hands, standing triumphant over two dead Kig-yar. He looked up and saw the team.

"What? I had to improvise, they were about to see me. Come on, this way."

Hank led them further into the cave, deeper and deeper into the ground, right below the city. Once they had been used by Assassins to get around New Tyne unnoticed, but they had a newer and better system now. Kig-yar filled the tunnels with stolen goods and living areas that were most certainly not for human use.

Hank walked by some kind of chair and kicked it lightly; it gave a low ringing sound as if it was made of metal.

"What exactly are we looking for here?" asked Zhang

"We're looking for their leader. In theory, he should be in the most luxuriant sleeping quarters; he's got a reputation for being gaudy. Keep going." Replied Jack

"Must've seen some of those old pirate movies with the swashbuckling pirates of old. With Johnny Depp maybe." Said Hank

"I hated those movies, I can't believe you made us watch them." Said Jill

"Oh, then you're gonna love Saturday's movie this week; it's Zhang's turn to pick something from the 21st century." Replied Hank with a grin

"Don't let us down Zhang, after all, really old movie night was your idea anyway." Said Jack

"Hey, don't worry, I got a real good one lined up; Julia I know will like this one-"

"Shut up Zhang, don't make me regret it."

Zhang threw his hands up in defence, "Hey, I'm just telling it like it is."

"Whatever, let's move out, quietly." Said Julia

The team spread out, Julia made sure to brush past Jack as she continued down a tunnel. Jack knew that there was very little she could do to him now and let it slide.

Jack wandered down a tunnel, cloak engaged. Having passed several Kig-yar patrols, he found a large round door, worked into the side of the rounded tunnel. He noticed a holographic display panel with red markings being projected.

"Ezio, get this thing open." Said Jack

"I'm on it." Ezio displayed a readout of his interpretations on Jack's visor, and made a satisfied sound when he had translated it.

"This is a basic Covenant lock system; easily overridden. Stab it." said Ezio

Jack shrugged and activated his energy blade, plunging it into the base of the console. The display flickered violently as the ionised plasma blade melted through the circuitry and the lock. Jack turned off his blade and silently pushed the door aside. The door made a sound typical of Covenant technology, but didn't wake the occupant within. Jack quickly activated another hidden piece of weaponry in his gauntlet: a multi-type dart launcher. He selected a tranquilizer that would stop a Guta dead in its tracks and fired at the sleeping Kig-yar in the room. The Kig-yar convulsed once and lay still. Jack crept forward, cautious for any other security. He reached the nest-like bed with no incident and picked the Kig-yar up and threw him over his shoulder. After searching the room for information or anything useful, he found data relating to where the pirates were getting their supplies and some weapons that he analysed and then either stole or smashed. He then bolted out of there, signalling for his team to meet him at the Warthog. They all arrived without incident and clambered in; Jack dumped the stolen items and secured the pirate boss with cables and set him down. Gamma team rolled forward back to the mountain.

An operator received their transmission on the way back, "Good work Gamma. We'll send the pirates a transmission when you get back with their boss and set up a hostage situation: they'll either disband immediately or we'll kill their leader and then come for them."

"Isn't that a little, you know, Templar?" asked Hank

"If we were to do that, yes. We don't want to have to do things this way, but situations like this require alternative methods. Kallos out."

Gamma drove back in silence.

"Attention Kig-yar pirates. We have your leader in our custody. Our demands are simple: we want you to cease your operations here on Venezia immediately. Failure to comply will involve killing all of you."

"This can't possibly work." commented Zhang in the corner of the darkened room. Julia shushed him

"If you comply, we will release your leader and offer you safe passage off this planet or reassignment somewhere else where you can work for a more noble cause. You have one day to respond." Finished the operator

"Alright then, now that that's settled-" started governor Jiles

"Sir, we have a response." Said the operator

"Well, that was quick." Said Jack

"Mm-hm" agreed Jill

"Put them on." Said governor Jiles

The screen came back on and several Kig-yar could be seen looking angrily at the screen. One at the front had a scar on his beak and a sniper's visor. He started squawking and snarling at the screen. One next to him translated

"I am Hekta, Darrl's first officer. You filthy humans think you can frighten us by capturing our leader? You are stuffed with your own pride."

More snarls and squawks from Hekta

"We will come and get our leader back, and kill all of you-"

"And how are you going to do that exactly, when you don't know where we are or who we are?" interrupted governor Jiles, giving the fuming Kig-yar his best oily smile.

"We are Kig-yar; we will find you." threatened the translator

"And we just captured your leader without any of you noticing. What makes you think we can't just go in and kill all of you?"

Hekta's frown deepened until it looked like he would dent his beak, then he relented.

"We will take your offer of sanctuary on another world. We will be ready in two days. Bring us Darrl alive or no deal."

"Good to know you are smart enough to make the right choice Hekta. We will meet you at your cave base in two days' time. If we find any more pirates on Venezia who are giving us trouble, we will not hesitate to kill them, so make sure you get all your people out." Jiles cut the transmission

"Well, I think that went well." Said Jiles, and exited the room.

"Uncle Jiles is recovering his original sheen; he's become the scheming man I remember him to be." Said Jack to Jill quietly

"Maybe it's because your other uncle is still alive that he's happy." Responded Jill

Jack nodded, concerned "Maybe."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Jack continued his routine, with the occasional mission thrown in to mx it up a little; sometimes with Gamma team, sometimes with another Archon, and sometimes by himself. He was overseeing the training and placement of other Archons during this time, making sure that the candidates were able to cope with the responsibility and stress of the kind of life it entailed. Many of them washed out; even Julia was rejected, and stormed out of the facility fuming. Hank was selected, as well as the leader of Alpha team Miranda, two members from Eta and two Insurrectionist members who had a thorough background check before being admitted into the project. Each of them were given the surgical implants and training that would enable them to wield the greatest piece of technology the Assassins had ever produced. Jack often watched the process from the overhead catwalk and made notes on each individual's progress. Fortunately, all of them survived the implantation process. The lead technician walked up to Jack and stood next to him. Jack struck up a conversation with the man.

"How long until they're ready for implementation into the field?"

The man stroked his goatee thoughtfully

"I don't know for sure, but definitely not as long as you. We had to go through many procedures just to keep you alive long enough to get you into the armour. And as far as I know, these people haven't been exposed to unidentified radiation."

"Yeah, let's hope not. But how long, at a rough estimate?"

"I'd say another two-and-a-half weeks should do it fully. Most of them have already had full animus training for this, so that saves time."

"Good, we need these Archons soon if we're going to strike at the Templars first."

"Yes, due to their rise to public power, any open move against them is going to be extremely difficult, and if we can get these elite solders into action we may just all live to see the end of this century. That is, if the Covenant don't return to kill us all first."

Jack nodded

"Might even stop Spartans from shooting at us," continued Wu, "If they came up against soldiers who look like them. Although, I'm not sure about those two Innys; they seem like trouble. I never liked how we had to hide behind them while we let them throw themselves at the enemy."

"Times are desperate, and we had to make sure we survived." Governor Jiles came walking down the catwalk towards them, "Our purpose is to protect humanity against those who would see it destroyed or controlled. We can't exactly do that if we were all dead."

"Governor, I did not know you were coming for an inspection." said the man, giving a slight bow.

"This isn't an inspection, unless there is something here for me to inspect?" Jiles began looking around the facility, as if looking for something that should be easy to see

"No! No of course not governor. Everything and everyone here is on schedule." Replied Wu hastily

"I'll head off then." Said Jack, who turned to leave but Jiles called him back,

"Actually Jack, I came here to speak to you. Wu, you can go now."

Wu gave another bow of his head and scampered away. Jack watched him go and queried his uncle's behaviour,

"Why did you have to try and scare him?"

"I wasn't trying, but it is fun to see the look on a subordinate's face when you throw your weight around. Anyway, there is a top-secret mission I want you and the Archons to be on that's coming up in a month's time. It's incredibly important and I need the best for it."

"Then you came to the right place uncle." Jack, who wasn't wearing his helmet, flicked up his hood for dramatic effect, "This group is the finest I've ever seen; strong, loyal, courageous, intelligent, tough-"

"Thank you Jack, I get it. The mission involves the protection of six high level assets that will be coming together in a month's time for a day, and it's up to you and your Archons to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands."

"OK uncle, but what exactly are you referring to when you say 'assets?'"

Jiles looked around to make sure no one was listening.

"The Axon group." Whispered Jiles

Jack took a slight step back,

"The Axon group? I thought they were just a rumour."

"They are more than that; they are the top three leaders of both the Assassins and the Insurrection, led by one impartial member whose identity is unknown, even to us. She is referred to as the Agent. They come together in secret every year to discuss tactics and our moves against or away from the Templars."

"And you want the Archons to play bodyguards for them."

"Yes, I don't think I need to remind you of the importance of this meeting and its efficient running. This could very well be the point at which our alliance teeters on. Relations with the Insurrection have been good lately, but I don't think that they're unbreakable. Beyond that, recruiting for both our sides has increased immensely, and I think that will make them happy enough to be civil, so you won't have to worry about infighting."

"Let's hope so uncle. I'll brief the Archons once they're ready, but I would suggest taking a couple of teams to back us up. They may not be as effective as Spartans at this point; after all, they're still just fresh off the factory floor so to speak."

"OK, if you think it's necessary. I'll make arrangements to have it done."

Jiles walked off, tapping his comm and speaking into it. Jack looked back over the facility and walked back to his quarters, his longer legs making the journey shorter than normal.

Jack's next mission was two days later, a simple assassination of a low-level ONI operative who was currently on earth. The individual was overseeing the reconstruction of the Super MAC cannon in orbit above New York.

"The hardest part will be getting close to earth. After that, they will have a lot of trouble tracking such a small target." Said Ezio as Jack began his approach from Luna in a one-man stealth shuttle that had undocked from _Jackdaw_ several hours ago.

"What about prying eyes? Will they see us?" asked Jack, sealing his armour for the extended zero-atmosphere infiltration

"They shouldn't, most of the personnel should be either asleep or on duty, and at this time of day, there will be few on duty. Your rocket launcher has heat-seeking, so as long as the target isn't near any plasma-welding it should aim straight for it."

"Is that likely?" asked Jack, putting the ship on auto-pilot

"No, according to the reports I intercepted, most of the parts are retro-fitted for easy assembly. All they do is manoeuvre them into position and lock them in place. Only the interior compartments are welded."

"Right, where should I expect to find him?"

"As I said, his shift was over hours ago, so he should be sleeping. Make sure to make it look like an accident, so if you can get in and use charges it would be easier to -"

"Thank you Ezio, I get the idea."

"Prepare for zero-atmosphere exit. Airlock release in three, two, one, mark."

The airlock Jack was standing in front of slid open and the vacuum of space tried to suck Jack out into it. He held on fast to the bulkhead and magnetised his soles. Then, when the shuttle was aligned with the station, he pushed off as hard as he could; a considerable amount all things considered. He flew through space towards the stealth field that the Assassins stole from ONI, which parted slightly to allow him through without giving the shuttle away. He continued towards the station, noting each of the workers immediately visible from his position. He checked that his armour was black on black against the backdrop of space, and that there was nothing behind him to stand out against, his cloak didn't work all that well in zero-G. He rotated his body as he approached the exterior of the station, feet first, and landed heavily on the structure's outside wall. He froze, determined not to give any more sound away. When he was sure that anyone who heard him had lost interest, he continued forward.

"Ezio, do you have the schematics yet?" asked Jack

"Hold on, I am still trying to hack my way in- there, this is what the station is meant to look like when it is finished, and this is what it currently looks like. Our target should be here."

Ezio displayed the unfinished station on Jack's visor, and set a waypoint where the target should be sleeping.

"Thanks, calculate the fastest way there, taking into account all the worker's positions. We don't want to bring civilians into this."

A red line that zig-zagged through the skeletal structure appeared on the map and then the whole thing relocated to Jack's minimap, the worker's positions displayed in yellow.

"Alright, let's do this." said Jack, as he began his trek.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

After several minutes of zero-G space-walking and narrowly avoiding being spotted by workers, Jack had made it to the airlock, but his target's temporary quarters were at the other end of the area. He bypassed the controls with ease and swung himself in. the airlock logged his unscheduled entry and Ezio wiped it off. Jack clicked on his thermals and set his armour to match the steel-coloured walls of the interior.

"Real original with the décor." Muttered Jack

He picked up two people chatting at the end of the hallway, unaware of his entrance. He targeted the first one and set his dart launcher for a poison; an ancient recipe that caused the victim to go insane and start attacking anything that moved. He lined up the shot but didn't fire, as he remembered the Assassin's code: never kill an innocent. He switched it out for another poison that was untraceable and would simulate a temporary heart attack. He fired the dart which hit the woman in the base of her spine, and she fell to the ground. The other woman she was talking to knelt down to investigate what happened. She realised her friend was going into cardiac arrest and rushed off to get a medic. Jack snuck up to the downed woman and removed the dart, making sure to cover his tracks. He then continued on his way, alert for anyone else who might see him.

Jack reached his target's sleeping quarters and cut a small hole in the sealed door, stuck his arm in and secured the charge on the inside of the door. He pulled his arm out, peeked through to make sure his target was still asleep, which he was, and set out to the airlock. On his way there, people had gathered around the woman and were picking her up to take here away, costing Jack valuable minutes. They left and Jack had only ten minutes to make it to the extraction zone. He broke into a superhuman run and reached the airlock in less than a minute, wrenching the outer door open because it took too long. Magnetising his soles, he was forced to slow his pace in order to make sure he wouldn't detach from the outer surface of the station.

"Ezio, can you redirect the stealth vessel to my position? I might not get there in time."

"You are right; waiting for those people has cost us too much time. But the only thing I can do is bring the shuttle into a slower speed of approach."

"That will have to do. I need the time to reach it."

"Done. You have nine minutes and 43 seconds to get to the extraction point. By my calculation, you should be able to make it as long as there are no more distractions."

"Thanks."

Jack power walked through space, conscious of each movement and how it might be his last. He could see the waypoint of the stealth shuttle with its distance from his current position marked on his visor. As he rounded a corner, the charge went off, sending shrapnel right into his path. Several chunks of metal and other extraneous material flew into him and his shields flickered under the stress. A badly burned arm hit the side of his head and Jack instinctively jerked back, nearly losing his balance, "Holy shit, calm down Jack, it's just an arm." He regained his composure and hurried along, the ship getting closer and closer.

"No, damn it, I can make this."

Jack was metres away from the extraction point when the shuttle passed right over him in a slow, invisible arc. The stealth field encapsulated him as it approached. It reached the lowest point at the extraction point; Jack's eyes set on the handles on the underside of the shuttle. Jack was just out of reach before it took off again. Jack let out an exasperated gasp. He snapped out of it and ran after it, maintaining his balance, deliberately placing one foot in front of the other. He picked up speed and made a massive leap of faith into space. Time seemed to slow down as he floated through nothingness; the shuttle seemed further and further away. Jack's fingers brushed the handles. Ezio thought fast and sent a message to Jack's other arm to point backwards and fired his particle beam gauntlet. The burst of fast moving particles was just enough to send Jack forward to grab the handle, holding on for dear life. Ezio keyed the underside hatch open and Jack clambered in, sealing the cockpit behind him.

"That was close." Said Jack once he was in the pilot's seat

"Too close, but you made it. I'm impressed." Replied Ezio

"Wow, I actually managed to impress you Ezio? At first I thought that what I just went through was nerve-rending; I had so much trouble keeping my breakfast down, but now that I've impressed you, it may just have been worth it."

"If you say so, but you still managed to complete the mission."

"Yeah, I got a slap to the face for it." Jack shuddered in recollection

"Don't be so childish, you are an Assassin; you kill people as part of your training."

"Maybe so, but I still don't like a disembodied arm in my face when I'm floating in space. Just take us back to Venezia."

Jack arrived back at Venezia within the week and went to the Archon facility as soon as he touched down. He rallied them all and spoke, "Everyone, you have all been selected for this program because you are the best of what both of our parties have to offer; both the Insurrectionists and the Assassin Order. As some of you may or may not know, a rumour referring to a party of the smartest men and women in each of our forces are part of the fabled axon group." Jack paused to let the information sink in

"I am here to tell you all today that this group does indeed exist, and we have been chosen to ensure the safety of its members during the next meeting in approximately three weeks. We have a reputation to uphold people; I expect all of you to put your full training into this. If we can't do this, we may as well give up now. Any questions?"

Most of the Archons had their helmets on, but Jack could see them conferring with their AI. Miranda, the leader of Alpha team raised her hand,

"Yeah, I gotta question, why we gotta sit around and guard these old guys? Why not just sit 'em in a bunker somewhere?"

"Because even then it might be infiltrated by people looking to kill them, you know, wet-work." Replied Harry, one of the Insurrectionist members

"Harry's right," said Jack

"I am?' said Harry

"Yes, we need to make sure these people are safe, and if someone were to get in that bunker and kill all of them, where would that leave the rest of us? Without guidance and leadership. Our organisations have grown beyond the point where we can be led by one man-"

"Or woman." Interjected Miranda

"Right, or woman with an idea or passionate belief. This is how we work now. I don't think I need to tell you guys this, so let's just make sure we can do this right. We will be running evac drills in the week before the meeting. The group already knows what to do but we need to brush up on our extraction plan. Each of us will be responsible for an individual member and will be responsible for getting them out of there if things go to hell. Is that understood?"

The other Archons bowed their heads, "Yes sir." They said in unison

"Good, I'll keep you updated. Dismissed." The team dispersed and returned to their previous activities.

"That was very well done, but a little too militaristic for my liking." Commented Ezio to Jack

"Maybe so. It felt good though, being in charge of this group."

Jack heard a clapping noise from his left and turned to see who it was. He saw Jill walking towards him, clapping her hands slowly. She stopped in front of him.

"That was very good Jack. Seems like you didn't turn out that bad after all." she said

"What do you mean?" asked Jack

"When I first met you, you could barely stand to talk to anyone you didn't know, and now you're in charge of an elite group, giving speeches and orders like it was second nature to you."

"She's right. You do seem to be better at this than your earlier reports would indicate." Said Ezio

Jack rubbed the back of his neck, just underneath his helmet

"Yeah, well. You helped. I suppose you forced me out of my shell, made me more of a people person."

Jill smiled,

"Come on, I have something to show you that I think you'll like." Said Jill, taking Jack's hand and dragging him out the door.

Jack shook his head and followed, "Sometimes I wonder just who you are," he said

Jill stopped and turned to him with a cheeky look on her face

"Only the most interesting woman you've ever met." She said

"Hey, that was my line!" said Ezio

Jack laughed and they both left.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"So what is it you have to show me?" asked Jack, taking off his helmet

"Remember a few months ago, when I showed you the data from the mission on the station orbiting Epsilon Eridani four?"

"Yeah, you kissed me in the boardroom."

"That's what you remember from that? Typical, anyway, I looked into it and found that it was a discontinued project; the funding was already dry. It's almost like it was a waste of time to even go there. But what I did find was something else; something mysterious."

"What?" asked Ezio

Jill jumped a little at Ezio's sudden appearance but quickly regained his composure

"It's information on the Forerunners, but here's the interesting part: the information was supplied by a third-party group; not Assassin or Templar. And they had a little information on the First Civilisation too."

"You mean the gods like Minerva?" asked Ezio

"Exactly. Most of it is dead knowledge; no-one could accept its credibility and as such it was ignored for the last few centuries or so, but obviously something has resurfaced enough to catch someone's interest."

"What are you saying? What is the First Civilisation?" asked Jack

"The First Civilisation are a race of beings who existed thousands of years ago on earth. They lived alongside humans and through an age of prosperity." Explained Ezio "But then apparently some great catastrophe wiped them all out."

"How do you know all this Ezio?" asked Jill

"I experienced this information through visions from Minerva. I now know who Desmond was and what she was trying to do."

Cassandra appeared on the table next to Jill's datapad

"That's all well and good, but it doesn't tell us anything we don't already know. What we need to know is what the connection between the First Civilisation and the Forerunners is."

"So I will present my findings to Governor Jiles and request a covert mission to retrieve the information from ONI." finished Jill

"And how are we going to do that? Do you know where the information is stored?" asked Jack

"Well, no. But when you think about it, Reach has fallen, and the only other significant location is Earth, but since the truce is being brokered, ONI would have transported all important information to an off-world location, and I'm just betting that location is Arcadia."

Jack's face fell and Jill suddenly became worried

"What is it Jack? What's wrong?"

"Arcadia is where my uncle disappeared."

"Jack, it's been confirmed that he is alive, it's highly unlikely he would have been discovered on Arcadia so he must have gotten off Arcadia." Said Cassandra soothingly, who appeared next to Ezio

"If you are sure that this information is on Arcadia, we should make preparations immediately. Relations with the Covenant won't stay friendly for long." Said Ezio

"Jack, I would like you to weigh in on my proposal to your uncle. I really think this is important. The Covenant nearly killed humanity because of the Forerunners; there must be some reason for that. We should see if there is anything to be gleaned from the Forerunners that we haven't already discovered."

Jack considered Jill's words for a split second, "Of course. Let's go ask him now. I just saw him before you found me giving that speech. He's probably at his office by now; let's go."

A knock at Jiles' door snapped him out of his deep thought. Returning to the present, he responded

"Come in."

The door opened and Jack came in without his helmet, followed by his girlfriend Jill

"Ah, Jack and Jill. What can I do for you two?" a thought came to Jiles' mind but he dismissed it immediately; no need to jump to conclusions

"Uncle, Jill has a proposition for you."

Jill walked up to the desk and laid out her datapad. Jiles picked it up and scanned over its contents.

"I thought I told you not to touch the data from the Epsilon Eridani mission." Said Jiles accusingly

"I didn't, but Cassandra found this and brought it to my attention."

"Is this true Cassadra?"

"Yes governor; I did."

Jiles sighed, then began to speak in a tone that was reminiscent of a parent explaining the obvious to a child

"Alright. Let's assume that you are correct, and that the data is on Arcadia. How are you going to infiltrate the compound?"

"The same way we do any infiltration: we stake it out, map the guard's shifts and go for a weak spot. We get in, steal the data and get out. I have the equipment for doing so quickly and quietly; they'll never know we were there."

Jiles stared at his desk in deep thought, then finally relented

"Fine you can go. But I have to warn you, most of our teams are out, and Gamma is on shore leave, you'll have to convince anyone else who is going with you yourself. This is off the books so I won't be sending any more help. Do you understand?"

Jack and Jill nodded in unison.

"That's fine governor, I won't need a lot of people, just one or two people."

"You'll have to make your own way there too. Dismissed."

Jack and Jill left the room, their AIs following them.

"Who else were you planning on recruiting for this little adventure?" asked Jack

"Actually, I thought that you would be adequate by yourself."

"Hm, there is actually someone I would like to take along for backup; one of the Insurrectionist Archons named Harry. He's having a bit of trouble coping and I think he needs some fieldwork to bring him back into reality. He's typically a demolitions expert and was part of the main terrorist part of the Insurrection."

Jill made a face, but changed just as quickly as it came

"Alright fine. I suppose it would be safer to have someone watching out backs."

"Also, how do you plan on getting us there?"

"I think we could convince Holly to take us there. She has full pilot qualifications. So all we have to do is hitch a ride on _Jackdaw._"

"Sounds good, I'll go and get preparations started."

Two days later, _Jackdaw_ exited slipspace in orbit around Arcadia and immediately engaged full stealth from partial stealth, rendering it completely untraceable from visible and invisible scanners. A similarly-outfitted Pelican awaited Jack, Jill and Harry in the hangar bay. Holly fired up the engines and called the others to the hangar bay. As they loaded onto the hangar bay, Jack ran through Harry about what was going to happen when they landed.

The Pelican raised itself off its landing gear and drifted out into low orbit, where it descended down towards the desolated landscape of an Arcadian city that was run through by the Covenant. They left nothing standing; none of the buildings were even half of their original height. Holly landed in the wreckage of a warehouse that was actually an old deserted Templar base which still had supplies and power and was occasionally used by Assassins who were passing through.

"We'll stay here until we're ready to go." Said Jill

"I'll go ahead and begin scouting the location. Harry, you're with me." Said Jack

"Yeah, whatever." was the response from the less-than-enthusiastic Archon

"There's a Mongoose over there, we'll take that. I'm driving."

Jack and Harry unearthed the Mongoose half-buried under rubble. It took a couple of tries but it eventually started.

"Oh good, I was afraid we were going to have to walk." said Harry sarcastically

Jack ignored him and drove them towards the ONI facility.

Two guards were patrolling the perimeter when Jack and Harry approached. One of them saw the two of them in the distance but they were too far away for him to care enough about two people on a quad bike driving along the ridge. He'd still have to report it but not any time soon. Jack and Harry circled the facility a couple more times until they had the layout of the compound and the routine of the guards. They returned to the group and went over their plan for insertion.

"Alright, two teams. Team one; me and Jill. Team two; Harry and Holly. Team one will infiltrate the compound and acquire the data. Team two will cover our escape, Harry, you're coming with us, I'm relying you to make a lasting impression."

"Huh?" said Harry

"In other words, blow shit up." Said Holly with a devilish grin on her face

"Oh, yeah. I can do that." said Harry, with a grin that mirrored Holly's

"Good. We'll move out at about 0330 local time and we should arrive at 0500. Their guard should be at its lowest efficiency by then; everyone is either getting up or turning in after a long night."

Jack looked at Harry expectantly.

"Oh, yeah." Said Harry once he'd realised "We saw the guards change shift every two hours or so. So yeah, five in the morning."

"I can get the Pelican over there in two minutes for evac if things go to hell. Where will you want to be picked up?" asked Holly

"We'll radio once we're in. Hopefully it won't come to that." said Jill

"Alright, if nobody has any questions, let's get some rest for the night. I'll take the first watch." Finished Jack, standing up to set up a perimeter


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

As Jack, Harry and Jill snuck through the shadows and evaded the glaring spotlight that was searching for intruders, Harry was taking point and Holly was painting targets to take out when it was time to get out, the other three would provide the route to the outside.

"Remind me again why I let you talk me into this?" asked Jack sarcastically

"Because if you be a good boy, I'll give you something special when you're out of that suit." Said Jill

Jack visibly stiffened, and Jill smothered a burst of laughter when she saw.

"Mmmphhphphph! What did you think I meant?" she said when she saw Jack's expression through his untinted visor. Jack said nothing as he blushed violently and quickly tinted his visor to the darkest shade of black.

"O-Ok, let's just go now."

"OK, Jack, whatever you say." Said Jill in a mocking tone and Harry sniggered

"You shouldn't let her do that to you, you should-" began Ezio in Jack's ear

"I'm not taking girl advice from my ancestor who lived a thousand years ago."

"And yet I still slept with more women than you-"

"I'm not even twenty-one yet!"

"-at your age."

Jack was shocked into silence, then relented.

"Alright, fine. You win, you're a ladies man and I'm a shy nobody."

"You are hardly a nobody, _amico,_ you are an Assassin, you are leading an attack on the Templars that is equal to anything I ever did to them."

"Well, you did steal the Apple of Eden from them. Twice, I might add. And you stopped the Borgia from using Leonardo Da Vinci's fantastic machines, among other legendary deeds."

Ezio was silent for a second, "True, but you are still part of something bigger than yourself, and you have a female compatriot who is not only willing to follow you to the ends of the universe and back, but she is also likely to survive such a journey. I know I could not ask anything more from any of the women I had relations with."

"Hey Jack, are you going to just stand there or are we going to get this information?" said Harry over the comm channel

"Coming, just a minute." Jack swiftly covered the distance and settled down beside the ridge which hid them from view of the patrols.

"So what are we looking at here?" asked Jack as he came up behind Jill and Harry

"Well, as we predicted; the guards are tired and slack." Said Jill "Our best shot is now, as the next guard shift is in an hour and that should give us enough time to get in and out whenever you're ready, Jack."

Jack nodded and they continued past the tired guards who weren't alert enough to notice the three shadows passing underneath them through the main gate.

Jack slipped under the bridge with the guards above who were oblivious to their presence.

"I'm going to put the explosives in place. I'll see you guys back at the rendezvous point." Said Harry, already going.

"OK, we're in. Where is the research wing?" asked Jack

"Alright, specs show the building furthermost west is the research facility. Two exits through patrolled corridors," said Holly through the comm "You could try the roof though. I see a ladder that leads to the top of the complex and you can free run across the roofs to the facility. Just watch your step, I don't think they'll be used to people running above their heads."

"My armour should cover my tracks well enough, but Jill will be heard on those roofs. Any suggestions?" asked Jack, turning to Jill

Jill looked down in thought, then looked back at Jack

"Well, I have one idea, but that depends on if you're up for it."

"I don't believe you came up with something this impractical." complained Jack, as he stepped quickly across the metal roofs of the portable research facilities with an unusual load on his back.

"And humiliating." Added Ezio

"At least this way I can still shoot from over your shoulder." Replied Jill, who was holding onto Jack over one shoulder and her legs wrapped around his middle.

"You're almost there; the facility we want is the next one ahead." Said Holly over the comm

"And I've got the explosives ready to blow the fuck out of this base. I'm on my way back out to the rendezvous point." Said Harry

"Great, see you guys in about half an hour. AC-1 out." Said Jack over the comm

"AC-1?" asked Jill

"Archon-1, it's something Miranda came up with, and Xavier shortened it to 'AC.'"

"Xavier's the other Insurrectionist in your team, right?" asked Jill

"Yep, he's actually pretty bright, considering he seems like a jarhead. He's our close-quarters specialist. Miranda is our sniper, Harry is our demolitions expert, Hank is-"

"The heavy, I know. Some things never change."

"Why should they? And Ben is our wildcard; he specialises in just about anything. He's actually the reason that Julia got rejected."

Jill's jaw dropped, "No, really? How did that happen?"

"He and Julia have a history. Both of them scored highest in most tests but Julia was slightly ahead of him. The only reason he passed instead of her is that she was classified as 'emotionally unstable.' Her reaction to that was enough to prove it right."

"I heard she put her fist through a control panel."

"Really? You bought that rumour? Those panels are solid metal, the only thing that her hand went through was the holographic display." Said Jack

"OK, we're here. I'm going to set you down now, so try to be quiet."

"Gotcha." Jill eased off Jack's back and bent her knees with the movement, making barely a sound against the wind.

"Ezio, thermals." Said Jack, and the thermal view of the interior lit up on his visor. There were indeed two guards in each corridor patrolling, and there was only enough room in them for one person to get through at a time.

"Glad we didn't storm the place." Said Jack to himself "Alright, I'll get us in here. You grab the data and anything else that looks interesting that isn't tied down."

"What if it is tied down?" asked Jill

Jack smiled behind his visor "Smash and grab."

Jack knelt down and began cutting through the skylight; melting a hole big enough to catch the piece of glass when it fell away. As he was halfway through, one of the guards looked through the door and checked the interior. Jack quickly stopped what he was doing and signalled to Jill to stop moving too. The guard looked back and forth a couple of times, then noticed a thin trickle of snow coming through the skylight. He creased his brow in confusion, but then dismissed it as a trick of the low light level. He shook his head and turned back down the corridor. Jack breathed a sigh of relief and continued. He cut the skylight, caught the piece of glass just before it was out of reach, and then swung around to hang by his legs over the edge; crossbow ready and aimed at the door. He helped Jill down onto the floor and turned invisible.

Jill slid through the darkness and reached the terminal. There were many notes on a poster board about the research next to it.

"This should only take a second," she said to Jack, as she sat down to work. And indeed, after a few seconds she stood up from the terminal and looked sideways at Jack's general position "Jack, there is no data on the First Civilisation on this terminal."

Jack was puzzled "Why not? This is the only place it could be. There aren't any other mass data storage systems anywhere on this base. Could you have been wrong?"

"Wait," interrupted Ezio "That board you passed, how much is written on it?"

Jill walked back to the board and checked over it. She gave a low whistle when she understood its meaning.

"They've written everything down. I don't have time to go through all of it."

"Hold on, I'll bring Ezio." said Jack, who swung forward and landed on the floor with a light 'whump' and stared at the display. Ezio's holographic form appeared outside his helmet to analyse the information.

"Alright, I have it. Check to see if we've missed anything."

Jack and Jill began searching the lab for any other notes. Jack found a binder of notes and Jill found a slab of strange stone.

"Ezio, look what I found." She said

Jack looked over and saw the smooth, shiny black stone and immediately recognised it.

"I've seen that stone before; in the animus. Look at it; it's perfectly shaped from one stone. That's definitely from the First Civilisation temples." Said Jack

"You are right, it does indeed match the description given, but we should take it back to the mountain to make sure." Said Ezio

"Agreed, Jill, have you finished shopping yet?" asked Jack

Jill smiled with a raised eyebrow under her hood, "Only as long as I have a big strong man to carry my bags."

Jack sighed and shook his head, "Walked right into that one. Alright then, just pass them up to me and we can go. Come in Holly, this is Jack. We have the data and we're on our way back now. ETA, five minutes."

"Understood, we'll see you on the other side." Came the response through the comm.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Jack went over to the skylight; a small layer of snow was gathering on the floor below. He jumped up and swung out of the skylight and held his hands down for Jill to pass up the items they had collected: the stone, the two binders of notes and papers and a journal filled with other images. After packing them into Jill's duffel bag she had brought, Jack hoisted her up out of the room and she held onto his back, once again holding his crossbow over his shoulder and the duffel bag over her own shoulder. Jack took off in a light run over the rooftops, making the occasional jump across a gap, each time Jill gave a small expression of having the wind knocked out of her. As they reached the entrance, Jill saw and fired at a guard who was exiting a building across the courtyard. The bolt passed through his forward and stopped halfway through his head.

"Nice shot, glad I have you to cover my back." Said Jack

Jill giggled, "You're welcome; now let's get out of here."

Jack descended from the rooftop and landed lightly enough that Jill was able to jump backwards off him. She handed him back his crossbow and the two of them went back out the gates. Jack engaged a full snow-white colouration of his armour and Jill went in front of him to hide herself. As they got halfway across the frozen tundra, a guard on the bridge saw Jack's outline moving across the snow.

_Hold on, there isn't supposed to be anyone leaving the base without checking out through us, and my shift hasn't ended yet-_

"Intruders! They're escaping, open fire!" he yelled, and pulled his BR55 battle rifle and switched it to single-shot firing mode for long distance. Some of the other guards also did the same and all of them opened fire on Jack's escaping silhouette. Jack pushed Jill to the ground and covered her with his body to protect her from the bullets flying through the air.

"Jack, what are we going to do?" asked Ezio

"Ezio, can you get me an angle from this distance?"

"No, they are behind cover, and I cannot predict their movements from this distance. I suggest you feign death for now."

Several bullets hit Jack's shields and it flickered around him wildly.

"Hold your fire, you idiots! That's a Spartan out there! Look at that shield flicker, that's not an Elite; it's too small." Said the commanding security officer to her men. They stopped firing and she tried to contact Jack.

"Unidentified Spartan, please identify yourself and state your purpose here or we will be forced to continue firing on you."

Jack head the comm channel sputter to life as a woman's voice spoke to him directly.

"Ezio, can we transmit a faulty signal, filled with white noise so that they find it too hard to understand me?"

Ezio gave a little chirp, "It is done. What will it do?"

"Just patch me through with it. This is Spartan-004, I am here on a top secret mission that you do not have clearance for. My presence here was supposed to be unknown, but now you've gone and blown my cover."

"This is Spartsssshh top secret misssssshhhh clearance for. My presssshhh unknown, but now yousssshhhh my cover."

"Hmm, one of you knuckleheads must've hit his radio. Someone go out there and bring him in." the guard who originally stated Jack's presence walked down to the Warthog in shame.

Jack had begun to move again, slower this time. Jill crouched low to avoid being seen again, just in case. Jack had almost made it up the ridge when he heard the sound of a Warthog engine coming closer and closer. He turned and saw a Warthog being driven by a guard coming straight for him.

"Jill, prep EMP now, aim at that Warthog's engine on my mark." Said Jack

"Right," Jill caged her fingers and a glowing green ball of plasma formed within them "ready."

Jack put his hand on his crossbow handle and waited until the Warthog was close enough, a little more, a little more, there!

"Now!"

Jill spread her fingers wide and the bolt hit the hydrogen-injected engine dead on, stalling it completely. It still had kinetic energy across the slippery ground and it slid across and almost hit Jack as he fired the bolt through the windscreen and though the driver's chest. Jack tossed the crossbow to one side and quickly put one leg across from the other and spun on his front leg, performing a textbook back kick into the front fender of the Warthog, denting it and stopping it dead. Jill poked her head around Jack and saw the crumpled Warthog hood.

"Glad you're on my side. Let's get out of here before they start throwing Scorpions at us." She said

"AC-1 to AC-4, light 'em up." Said Jack through the comm

"Alright then, stand back everyone, this is going to be one helluva a show."

"Hey, what just happened out there?"

"I don't know sir, I just saw Brenton's 'Hog drive out there to pick up the Spartan, then he ran into it and now I can't see any sign of him."

The commanding officer was about to order another Warthog to be prepped, then explosions wracked the base, the buildings flying off their supports or just blown to pieces.

The wall that the guards and their commanding officer were standing on shook violently and parts began to fall backwards, dragging the rest along in a cataclysmic cascade. Some were smart enough to leap to the snow-covered ground for hopes of a better ending but most were forced to the ground and ended up with serious injury. In only a few seconds, the base had gone from a cold and imposing fort to a smouldering slagheap.

"Wow, I see why Harry is an Archon, if he can do that much damage." Said Jill in amazement

"Yeah, he's a genius with explosives. Granted, he may not be the sharpest bullet in the bandolier, but he knows how to get the job done well. That's why the Insurrection kept him on. Anyway, that should have either killed them all or caused enough of a distraction that they won't find us or the stolen data any time soon. Shall we go now?"

"Yes please, I want to get out of this snow as soon as possible."

Jack laid the stone tablet on the governor's desk and stood back with a grin on his face. Jiles leant forward and picked it up gingerly

"Jack," he began "what exactly am I looking at here?"

"Well, governor, at first glance, we weren't sure of its significance either, but when you look closer, you'll see that it's made from a single piece of stone, no imperfections at all." said Jill

Jiles was unimpressed

"Are you telling me that I made the _Jackdaw _risk detection and take almost a week out of its way just so that you could bring back a rock and some notes?" said Jiles, his voice rising with each word

"Uncle, please calm down. We also found notes the third party researchers made on the link between the First Civilisation and the Forerunners. Much of it relates to Master Chief's missions over the last year or so, and other isolated cases of interaction with Forerunner tech. it also makes reference to First Civilisation sites that have been found on earth that predate history."

Jiles placed the stone tablet down on his desk with force enough to make Jill jump a little

"I authorised this mission because I knew you two could get results, and right now, all I see is one shred of inconclusive evidence after another." Jiles leant forward on his desk and glared at them "When are you going to show me some data I can comprehend?"

"Jiles, this is a big step in itself, we have had almost no information linking these two species until now, the fact that we were able to acquire this data given its nature and prevent our entry from being discovered proves that you made the right choice." Said Ezio, materialising on Jiles' desk and pacing down its length slowly, using his hands for emphasis. Jiles visibly calmed down and sat back,

"You're right Ezio, I'm sorry I snapped at you two." Jiles ran his fingers through his hair "It's been so stressful here lately, the Axon group were breathing down my neck very hard after they caught wind of my letting you go chasing fairy tales. They're all stressed because of the upcoming meeting, and you taking Harry along wasn't the greatest idea you've ever had, Jack. Taking one of their operatives into the field without consultation was bound to invite confrontation."

"With all due respect uncle, Harry is part of my team, and I saw it necessary to test his skills out in the field where they would be used most effectively."

"Which they certainly were." Added Jill

"I don't disbelieve you, but still." Jiles sighed "Well, you can tell them that in a couple of days' time during the meeting if it comes up. Just make sure you don't say anything unless it comes up, there is a lot of etiquette here that we must follow. To me, you're a valuable member of the team within this mountain, but to them, you're just a very expensive soldier, and it would be best if you were not to jeopardise it by saying anything stupid."

"Governor, Jack is one of the least likely people I know who would say something stupid when he needs to be sensible." Volunteered Jill

"I appreciate your vote of confidence, Monroe, but I cannot guarantee the Axon group will keep their opinions to themselves, some of them feel very strongly towards us. You are to leave on a shuttle in two days' time for Talitsa. It will be a staggered arrival; one at a time with large gaps between them and different angles of approach. I hope you can do your job."

Jack gave a slight bow with his fist over his chest and left with Jill coming along behind.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

As Jack boarded the shuttle, he noticed how quiet the hangar was; usually it was bustling with activity, but today it was unusually quiet. His charge, an Insurrectionist veteran who now led one of its major divisions, was extremely uptight, and it got on Jack's nerves. Ezio was able to relieve Jack's stress by going through some mental calming techniques, but they did little to shut the crotchety old man up.

"You Assassins have no honour; you fight dirtier than we do. Why did we even create an alliance with you people? The way I see it, we would all have been better off if we just killed you when we first met you, it might've gotten the UNSC off our backs for killing one of their enemies."

Jack couldn't stand it any longer. He stood up from his chair, and prepared to make a statement in his defence when Ezio's blue holographic form appeared in front of him, shaking his head. Jack took his seat again.

"Pre-flight checks are showing green across the board. Mount Kallos this is Darter-4, do we have clearance?" said the pilot

"Darter-4 this is Mount Kallos, you are clear for departure. Good luck out there, make sure you bring them back in one piece." Said the radio operator

The Darter shuttle began to hover on its VTOL jets and then began accelerating out of the disguised hangar towards space, where the _Jackdaw _was waiting to send all the shuttles into slipspace.

"Darter 2, 4 and 5 please standby for slipspace jump. You're the second set to go and each of you have your own paths for getting there, safe travels and Godspeed." Said the captain of the _Jackdaw_ to thee Darter-class shuttles awaiting the go-ahead. The slipspace rift opened in front of them, its blue colour very inviting against the blackness of space. The three Darter shuttles and the _Jackdaw _sped through slipspace as it closed behind them.

Only a day later did they arrive at their destination, and the _Jackdaw_ immediately went into cloak while its slipspace drive was reset for its new location. The three shuttles separated around the system as to confuse anyone who may be watching. When Jack queried the pilot as to why, the pilot merely shrugged and said "I just do as I'm told, I don't give a damn as to how the orders work, just that I'm expected to make sure they do."

Jack was satisfied that he wasn't going to get any more information out of the pilot and went back to reading in his helmet. The digital copy of _Ringworld_ by Larry Niven held his attention throughout the rest of the uneventful journey to Talitsa's surface. As they touched down, the first thing Jack noticed was the lack of anything at all; the landing zone was completely desolate, hidden within a mountain range. The sun beat mercilessly on them as they entered the hidden subterranean bunker where the summit was being held. Jack escorted his charge through heavily guarded checkpoints, each one of them checking both their IDs and DNA. After a gruelling hour of double checking, they were finally let through into the boardroom. It was nothing like Jack was expecting; there was a corporate feel to the room, and there was a window overlooking what appeared to be a bustling colony world. Ezio confirmed that it was just a screen displaying an image, and Jack nodded with recognition. This wasn't missed by his charge, who raised an eyebrow and said "Did you really think that was real? If they're letting people like you into those suits I'm seriously beginning to question Jiles' judgement."

Jack said nothing but clamped his teeth together hard. He stood and watched the simulated lives of people who had never existed being carried out. He and his charge were the last ones into the room, and his Archons saluted him in the traditional style when he stood behind the chair his charge sat down in. The Agent, a bespectacled middle-aged red-haired woman, entered the room and rest of the Axon group rose. She sat at the head of the table and the Axon group sat down also.

"Welcome, all of you, to the 29th annual Axon group summit. I would like to get straight to the point of the first topic." Said the Agent, after everyone was seated. She pulled out a small datapad from her pocket and unlocked it.

"Alright, the budget for new inter-connecting projects. The Insurrection has begun the construction of several new bases, as many of you will already be aware of, and the Assassins have offered their usual protection and aid, but what is required is money and materials."

A man from the Assassin side of the table raised his hand to interject, "We all understand the need for the basics, but we have not been able to spare all that much materials since the activation of the Ascendance project."

"Ah yes, the Ascendance project." interrupted Jack's charge "I would very much like to discuss that particular expenditure."

"That is all well and good, Tony, but we are currently discussing the construction projects." Said the Agent

"Fine then, I move that the topic of the Ascendance project and all its associated issues be next discussed. All in favour," Tony raised his hand, and three others did too,

"Noted, the next topic for discussion will be the Ascendance project." The Agent rearranged the order of the summit on her datapad,

"Now, as I was saying," continued the Assassin "Since the Ascendance project, we have been somewhat limited in our resources, and we are running dry. During the war it was easy to steal from shipments under the guise of pirates or rebels, which as I recall, was your idea Tony, thank you for that."

"What's your point Eric?" asked Tony

"My point is that we need to focus on acquiring more materials on the whole, now that we have a cease-fire, and Lord Hood is preparing to negotiate a long-term truce with the Sangheili, it will become extremely difficult to appropriate supplies from the UNSC. We will have to start finding backers; colonies who have what we need and are willing to aid us. I recommend contacting some of the surviving outer colonies."

"And we don't have those in buckets either, we had better be quick about it." added the woman on Eric's right. Members around the table nodded in agreement

"There is also the option of colonising our own worlds, or at the very least, mining operations of uninhabitable worlds." Added another member sitting opposite Tony.

"Or we could do both. We could then sell some of it to the colonies for the resources we can't find ourselves." added another. This was followed by much murmuring in agreement

"I think we can wrap this up now, all those in favour of initiating a trade relation with the outer colonies, as well as mining operations for resources on uninhabitable worlds, say aye."

A unanimous 'aye' was heard around the room.

"Alright then," said the Agent, marking the vote on her datapad, "next topic, the Ascendance project and all associated topics, as voted by the group. The Ascendance project was made possible by the combination of Project: Prometheus and the acquisition of SPARTAN-III powered armour. It involved creating our own version of Mjiolnir armour, referred to as ARCHON armour. It has shown to be highly effective in the field, and the project contains both Insurrectionists and Assassins staffing. This is a shared operation and is taking in an estimated 3.5 billion every year, and if the project is allowed to expand, more."

Tony started talking as soon as the Agent stopped

"Now, I don't regard the use of extremely expensive elite soldiers lightly. This project is a waste of time, money and resources that could be used to fund the placement of individual Assassins and Insurrectionists, not these," Tony waved at Jack behind him "robotic freaks." Jack could barely contain his rage, and he could see his Archons having the same problem through their body language. He forced out a discreet order for them to keep their tempers through gritted teeth. The others acknowledged silently as Tony continued his rant,

"And not only that, but I have reason to believe that the UNSC has caught on to your little science project; they have taken advantage of a leak in our security regarding the manufacture of these Archons and they are using this information as we speak to roll out their own line of Spartan-IVs, using adults, making the whole process more cost and time effective." Jack was startled at this news and queried Ezio

"Why wasn't I told of this? It was important."

"_Amico,_ it was while you were being operated on. We had started the project as soon as you brought in that armour, but it had taken us that long to get it moving. Do not be concerned, we plugged the leak as soon as it was discovered."

"And yet, your organisation lost one of our very few Covenant Engineers that we loaned to you. I believe your men just left it in the middle of a room in a skyscraper, surrounded by Covenant weaponry, which is how the interlopers were able to defeat your agents and escape?" said one of the Assassins in response to Tony's argument

"But that still doesn't help us, if the Templars knew about our operations, we could be in serious danger, what else could they know about?" said Jack to Ezio

"I don't know, but all we can do is hope that they choose not to attack us today."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

The summit continued on for another two hours until a call for an adjournment was requested and passed. The result of the discussion about the Ascendance project was that it was to be expanded only after the Insurrection got its new bases up and running and only if they had the resources to spare. Tony was not happy with the result, but took it in good grace all the same. Jack was with his Archons in the next room, all of them tired and weary from standing for so long and not saying a thing, except for the few times they had been requested to provide a first-hand account of a mission they had been on or a similar incident; Jack was asked to give a recounting of how he defeated the Spartan on Heian and the details of the Misriah armoury incident.

The Axon group had adjourned to take a lunch break and discuss more social matters; the Agent was nowhere to be seen. The Archons were not permitted inside the sound-proofed, reinforced room, and they talked among themselves in the next room, eating and drinking while making fun of the elderly members of the Axon group and their judgements.

"You have been given the best of training I can give you within the allocated time I have had to teach you. ONI wants you to eliminate six key rebel leaders on the planet Talitsa. We have heard that they are planning to start their own Spartan program, and if that were to occur, it would result in another civil war, which we can all agree we don't want."

Alistair's mind replayed the memory of his last talk with Delta-six's Wetwork Spartan-IVs, before sending them on a mission that displayed the full extent of his betrayal: the time and place of the key leaders of the Assassins and Insurrectionists meeting together, ripe for the killing. He had wished that he could have gone with them, or at least sent his protégé Sebastian, but Balenka had ordered him to remain in Sydney, where he could train his protégé as long as he needed to. Alistair thought of how many ways Sebastian was similar to Jack, and then thought that the two were more different than alike and left it at that. Thinking about Jack brought feelings of turmoil about his torn loyalties, and his old argument of "it's for the good of mankind" was no longer working as well.

"Come on Alistair, you've killed hundreds before, don't start growing a conscious now."

Sebastian looked up from the book he was reading but Alistair waved him down.

Delta-six landed on Talitsa, at the foot of the mountain base where the summit was being held. They spread out along the network of mountain paths and structures carved into the mountainside, while strange flying creatures circled overhead. As they neared the entrance, they could see the rebels patrolling the walkways and watching the skies. Delta-six surrounded them and took them out at once, with clean efficiency. They continued their approach, watching for any more patrols, but they were not any more due for another 30 minutes.

The leader waved his group to their individual objectives, and continued on towards his own; the sabotage of the lockdown procedures of the base. He infiltrated the first checkpoint and killed everyone inside, using trace amounts of DNA to access the door. He did this each time until he was inside the maintenance area, while his squad did the same on the other five entrances. He avoided another patrol and entered the security room, two guards had their back to him and were playing a game on their monitors.

'Hah, I've always been faster than you Horatio, you can't match my fighter's speed." Said one

"Maybe, but my heavy is tougher than your fighter, and it will destroy your fighter." Replied Horatio, the Spartan drew his knife from its sheath and approached Horatio

"You need a target lock first!" the Spartan was about to plunge his blade into the back of Horatio when someone behind him yelled out, "Intruder! Sound the alarm! We got a Spartan in here, and it's not one of ours!"

The Spartan sighed and stabbed Horatio, then his co-worker and then shot the guard who saw him in the chest twice, he fell over dying.

"Delta-six, initiate plan B; we've been spotted. Approach vector four is a no-go, repeat; approach vector four is a no-go."

His Spartans replied with blinking acknowledgement lights. He then went straight to the environmental controls and overrode them and replaced the standard emergency oxygen supply with something much deadlier.

"Secondary objective achieved, primary objective will follow automatically. Regroup at primary rendezvous for phase two."

Jack was strolling down the corridors, wandering the base, looking at the projects the engineers had come up with at the base over the years, and recognising some weapons and technology he had used before. As he went over to the area containing active projects, which was shielded behind shatterproof glass, Jack suddenly got the feeling that something horribly bad was about to happen. He turned and ran back to the meeting room.

"Hey Harry, heard you were on a mission with Jiles a couple of days ago." Said Xavier

Harry looked up from the picture window he was looking at and looked to respond. As he opened his mouth to reply, alarms were going off and emergency lights activated. An automated warning came through the loudspeakers,

"Attention all personnel, lockdown procedure beta is now in effect. Please report to your designated emergency areas. This is not a drill."

Jack burst into the room and began to round up his Archons to their designated roles. Jack made sure they all had their helmets sealed in case of toxic gas. Jack overrode the lockdown on the door to the break room and made sure each and every one of the Axon members were secured and wearing gas masks which were connected to the ceiling that supplied oxygen in case of gas weapons. The Agent was not among the Axon members in the break room. Jack queried her absence, asking Tony

"I don't know where she's go- this air tastes strange…" Tony slumped in Jack's arms, and the other Axon group members followed. Miranda checked her charge's pulse.

"He's gone."

Ben checked his too,

"Mine's gone as well. I think they're all dead."

Jack hung his head in disbelief. _How could this happen? We took all the necessary precautions, we made sure no one knew where we were, we secured the base and had an external oxygen supply for the Axon group- _

"Wait, Ezio, how does the emergency oxygen supply work here?"

Ezio appeared in front of him, "It is overseen by the security officers in the life support wing. The oxygen is recycled and purified from the tanks there, and checked for any toxins before it is passed through to the emergency masks."

"So how could this happen?" asked Miranda

"Sabotage the toxin scanner, inject a toxin after the checkpoint, the list goes on. It's not a flawless system, but it was supposed to be a redundant backup; since this planet is habitable it's technically more than is necessary. No one should have known about this except us, this information is only known by those inside this base." Said Xavier

"You're right, I checked the logs, and there was an intruder in the life support area only a few seconds before the lockdown began. They must have been the ones who sabotaged it." said Ezio

"Well then let's go and find this intruder before he gets away. Archons, move out!" said Jack. The Archons all left the dead bodies of the Axon group in the break room and went out with revenge in mind.

Jack went straight to the life support room, finding a dead guard slumped outside the doorway and two dead operators at their consoles. Jack scanned the room for residual heat signatures, finding no indication that anyone else had been here. He turned to leave until he saw a faint trail of blood in the pattern of footprints leading away from the guard in the hallway. Jack drew his two pistols from their positions on his legs and ran after the trail, weaving through the base towards an exit checkpoint.

The Spartan bashed his way through the exit checkpoint door, shooting each member and blowing a hole in the door with a shaped charge. The blast was powerful, but not enough to break through the door. He sighed and began to attack the door with all his might, aware that someone most likely heard the noise.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Sure enough, Jack heard an explosion and quickened his already superhuman pace. Turning the corner, he saw an armoured individual ramming a blast door with their shoulder. Jack raised his two pistols and fired two warning shots next to the individual's head, who whirled around and brought their own gun up to point and shoot at Jack's head, Jack flicked up his hood just in time and closed in for disabling the now-apparent Spartan. The Spartan, however, was puzzled at Jack's appearance, but soon got over it, as he began running towards him with pistols firing. Jack himself was reminded of an insect when he saw the Spartan's strange looking helmet. The Spartan ducked behind a desk and blind-fired over the edge.

Jack's superhuman reflexes, combined with being high on rage and adrenalin, allowed him to see where the gun was about to shoot and was able to avoid each shot. The Spartan paused to reload, but fumbled the clip in panic, then reached for a new one just as Jack's energy blade sunk into his gun and cut it clean in half. the Spartan jumped back quickly and pulled out his pistol and fired at Jack point-blank. Jack's shield took most of the punishment, and Jack held up his blades to prevent his face from getting hit. The Spartan used this distraction to take a final run-up at the severely weakened door, which finally fell at his impact. He rolled with the impact and scrambled a piece to use as a shield against Jack, who was now recovering and charged at the Spartan, firing his particle gauntlets.

"Delta-six, abort mission, repeat, abort mission, we have been compromised." Said the Spartan to his squad

"_Stronzo!_ You killed our leaders, and nothing we can do to you will ever compensate, except maybe taking down the Templars once and for all!" cried an enraged Ezio

Jack pulled out his crossbow and fired some explosive shots at and around the fleeing Spartan. The shots went wide or had little effect, as Jack was running so fast he couldn't keep a straight aim. The Spartan rounded a corner and Jack followed him, only to run straight into another Spartan wearing the same kind of armour the first one wore. The two of them collided at such a speed that Jack had no time to react and was left dazed by the impact. He could faintly hear Ezio's voice in his head saying "Get up! They're getting away!" but Jack could do little to follow those instructions. He lay there until he went unconscious.

"Mission accomplished, all six of the rebel leaders have been eliminated. Although it seems as if our identity was revealed." Reported the leader of Delta-six, as he and his other Wetwork Spartans returned from Talitsa. Alistair nodded his praise.

"You have all done well. Eliminating the Axon group was no easy feat. You are all dismissed." The Spartans saluted Alistair and began to march off, but the leader stayed behind.

"Sir, I have something to tell you, something about what I saw at the Insurrectionist base."

This piqued Alistair's curiosity. What could the Assassins have been doing?

"Enlighten me."

"Well, as I was trying to escape, another Spartan came up to my position, but it wasn't one of our own. It was wearing white and red armour, with a black Pilot-variant helmet, and some kind of hood that appeared to shield its head from my weapon."

Alistair frowned. Another Spartan? In an Insurrectionist base?

"Tell me more about this so-called Spartan."

"It also fought with what appeared to be two small, single-edged energy swords attached to its wrists. Sir do you know anything about this? You've gone very pale all of a sudden."

Alistair looked away and left the Spartan standing there.

"I don't believe this, they actually went through with it? The rumours were true; the Assassins have their own Spartan program. Oh, god this is bad. If the brass finds out about this, or even worse, Balenka, this could be the end for both parties. It's not just the fact that it will start a war, but now they won't be such a pushover." Alistair regained his composure and returned to the Spartan leader,

"Captain, could you do me a favour and keep this under wraps? We really don't need other people to know about this. If the information were to be leaked it would be catastrophic."

The Spartan tilted his helmet to one side, contemplating Alistair's words.

"Alright, since you insist. If I am asked about it though, I will be obliged to reveal the information. You do realise that?"

"I do, just don't mention it unless you have to, OK?"

"OK sir."

Jack woke up with a pounding headache and Harry's face looming over his. He was about to attack him when Ezio made his arms jerk backwards before he hurt anyone around him. He was still lying on the floor with a crack on his visor.

"Miranda, he's awake. What now?" asked Harry. Miranda walked into Jack's field of vision and Jack saw she didn't have her helmet on

"Get him up and to the medical bay. Xavier, round up any survivors and bring them into the processing floor in 30 minutes." Said Miranda, and Xavier, wherever he was, hastened to obey without a word.

"What happened? I'm still a little hazy." Asked Jack, after Harry helped him to his feet

Miranda had a look of sorrow cross over her normally cheerful face.

"We lost all members of the Axon group, and the Agent is unaccounted for. We couldn't stop any of those Spartans getting out; it was all too fast and well-coordinated."

"They hit all our weak spots at once, no one outside this facility should be able to do that." commented Ben

"Do we have any leads?" asked Jack

"We have no idea how they came across the information, but our primary suspect is the Agent. It's the only thing that fits, she disappears right before all the other members are assassinated. She must have fed the UNSC information about our operations here." Said Miranda

"But why would she do that? I checked, and she has no apparent motive." Said Ezio

"Maybe it's something psychological. We won't know until we find her." Said Jack

"Well then we'd better go find the bitch." said Harry, putting his helmet on and setting out to find any trace of her whereabouts.

The other Archons did the same and spread out amongst the survivors and the rest of the base, but Jack stood where he was and consulted the engineers from the base, querying the Agent's usual behaviour.

"She never normally does this, it's not like her to disappear altogether. She rarely leaves the safety of the boardroom or the break room without a proper escort." Said one of the engineers Jack questioned

"Did she leave with a proper escort?" asked Jack

The engineer shrugged, "I was working on my designs before the lockdown. I didn't see her at all."

Another engineer walked up to Jack and tapped him on the shoulder. It was all Jack could do to not swing around and hit her in the head after the day's events. Jack turned around slowly and said, "Yes?"

"Um, I saw the Agent on my way out of the ladies' room, and she did have an escort. She was heading to the supply storage."

Jack calmed down and thanked the woman, then made his way to the supply storage. When he got there, he noticed that the lockdown had not been lifted in this area, and all the rooms were still sealed behind blast doors. He entered in his override code and the doors began to open. As he neared the end of the rooms, an incessant pounding was coming from one of the locked doors. A faint yelling was coming from behind it. Jack went to open the door but found that it had jammed.

"Stand back, I'm going to break the door down." Said Jack, and the pounding stopped. Jack stood back, then delivered a powerful kick to the door, which crumpled under the impact. Jack forced it open and saw the Agent standing away from it, looking very dishevelled.

"You, you're one of the Archons, you're one of us." The Agent visibly calmed down.

"AC-1 to all Archons, I've located the Agent. Stand down." Said Jack into his helmet mike, the Agent began to recount events from before.

"I came here to find some dairy-free cheeses; we didn't have any at the break room. I took my guards with me as always. I was in here looking when the lockdown happened." The Agent began to look frightened, "I'm sorry, I have claustrophobia, I couldn't stand being in here without a way out. I told my guards to find another way out. I eventually lost it and you found me hammering the door since it was still locked down in accordance with the safety protocols that instruct a double layer of security in areas with Axon group members in them. And you found me here. Thank you."

Jack nodded, and the Agent's two bodyguards came up behind here and stood at attention.

"Ma'am, we couldn't find any other exits, but it seems you've already opened the door and brought backup."

"Well this Archon was kind enough to come knocking." Replied the Agent


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Cleaning up after the summit was difficult; since the Axon group consisted of the six major leaders of the Insurrection-Assassin alliance, they were now without any form of major leadership and each segment had reverted to their standard governors. As a result, governor Jiles was up to his elbows in paperwork by the time Jack and the Archons returned.

"Jack, I have had a really bad week, so unless you're here to tell me that the Axon group isn't really dead, I suggest you leave me alone for a few days."

Jack could tell that his uncle was seriously stressed out.

"I'm sorry uncle, but we did fail to protect them. The infiltrators knew all our weak spots and attacked them all at once. We never stood a chance. The Agent is still alive though, since all they did was sabotage the emergency systems with toxic gas rather than the usual oxygen, and she was somewhere else at the time."

"Well, that is the first bit of good news I've heard all week. So we can't blame the Archons for this mess. But I've just gotten a ton of responsibilities to handle. We have to arrange a new Axon group, re-establish a chain of command and, of course, there are wills to carry out." Jiles sighed

"It's going to be a long day."

"I'll leave you to it uncle. If you want my help, just call."

"Thanks Jack, that means a lot, but I don't think you can help me through any of this."

Jack went down to the training room and requested some cinder blocks to punch through. The assistant told him to go to a building site if he wanted to do that. Jack left in disgust and went outside the mountain and wandered down the underground forest path. He found the largest tree he could find and stood in front of it. He set his feet firmly apart and hit the tree with his fists and feet. The tree shook with each impact, but Jack didn't stop. He hammered it as if his life depended on it, letting his rage fuel every blow.

"WHY COULDN'T I STOP THEM?!"

_thwack _

"HOW COULD THEY HAVE FOUND US?!"

_Thwack, crack, crack, crackle_

"WHO WOULD BETRAY US LIKE THIS!?"

Before Jack could land another punch, the tree began to topple backwards. It hit the ground with a resounding _thud_. As it did, something occurred to Jack, something dark and malevolent that made him topple two more trees before he settle down enough to re-enter the base without killing someone. As he keyed the door, he noticed his hands were bloody, his body underglove torn from the bark of the trees. He went down to the medical bay, then armour processing and had it replaced. On his way out, he ran into Jill. The two stood there for a minute and simply looked at each other. Jill reached up and removed Jack's helmet, threw it aside and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his armoured chest. He slowly put his arms around her and relished her embrace.

"I'm so sorry Jack. I know how hard this is for you. I'm so sorry." She said

Jack was silent for a long time, and several people passed the pair, giving them strange looks.

"Thank you," he whispered eventually. She released him, and he saw that she had been crying also.

"It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have know-"

'Don't say that, the evidence was there all along. As soon as we found out we should have prepared for the worst."

"Jack, what do you mean?"

"I know who betrayed us, it was so obvious. All along and we didn't even realise it. And the worst part is, we should have."

"Jack who are you talking about?"

"ALISTAIR!" yelled Jack, his voice reverberating across the hallway

"What?"

"My other uncle, the one who went MIA on Arcadia. He must have defected to the fucking Templars. He sold us out! He's normally in charge of security detail for the Axon group meetings, it was so fucking obvious! Why did no-one see it?!"

"Jack, your uncles are both good men, I'm sure they wouldn't sell us out without a very good reason."

"And what reason is good enough? I can't think of anything that would lead to his betrayal."

"We should tell the governor." Said Jill

"No, if we told him it would devastate him. We should keep this under wraps for a few days, until things cool down." Said Jack, clenching and unclenching his fists, wincing in pain as the skin on his knuckles was not fully healed yet.

Things eventually cooled down, but it took a lot longer than anyone imagined. The wills of each Axon group member were carried out and their bodies sent into a sun; a more up-to-date version of cremation. Jack revealed the information to his uncle and he was indeed devastated. He needed a whole week of recuperation before he would speak to anyone else again. But when he did, he re-entered his work with a sense of purpose. He ordered that everything Alistair was organised in was to be redone to the point where he wouldn't be able to provide accurate intel on it.

At the same time, Jill's research into the strange stone had hit a dead end. She eventually picked it up and threw it against a wall in frustration. The Huragok Heavier Than Most was being passed through the lab where Jill was working and picked up the stone. Its fine cilia brushed it like a painting and faint traces of light came up where it touched it.

"Uh, Miss Monroe, you might want to take a look at what this Engineer is doing to that tablet you threw." Said one of the handlers.

Jill turned around and looked at what Heavier Than Most was doing and was amazed to see a star map appear on the tablet in glowing blue light. Heavier Than Most made some happy clicking noises and handed the tablet back to Jill, who took it with a shocked expression. Heavier Than Most began to sign to her faster than she could keep up.

"Cassandra, translate please."

Cassandra appeared next to Heavier Than Most and translated.

"This is not of Forerunner design; it was made by the betrayer, the one who turned his back on his race to help the enemy. He is still alive and is on this installation. We need to find him quickly; he had sent a message through the stone that only those who needed it could read. It was broken and I fixed it. You should go to meet [error in translation] at [error in translation.]"

"So you're saying this tablet has the location of someone who wants to speak with us, but he isn't Forerunner?" asked Jill, while Cassandra translated

"He is not Forerunner, and he is not human, and he is not of the races who enslaved my kind. It is unknown what he is."

"Cassandra, tell Jack that I've found what we were looking for." Said Jill, with a huge grin spreading across her face.

"What is it Jill? I heard that you cracked it-?" said Jack as he entered the room

Jill came up to him and gave him a kiss on the lips and looked absolutely giddy with excitement

"Jill? Are you high?" he asked, extremely confused

"No Jack, I found out what the tablet is for! And here's the best part: it's not Forerunner!"

Jack was extremely confused

"Then who made it?"

"I already told you, it was made by the First Civilisation. They made this stone to send a message to us specifically. The reason I couldn't figure it out the first time is that the idiot Templars broke it when they were experimenting on it. Heavier Than Most-"

"Our Huragok?" asked Jack

Jill nodded and continued, "He was able to fix it and it shows a star chart to a Forerunner installation in the Horsehead nebula!"

"Wait, I thought you said it was made by a member of the First Civilisation?"

"It is, that's the intriguing part! It proves there is a connection. I would love to check it out. Can we go and ask for permission for an outing?"

"To go to the coordinates? Yes we can do that. Do you want to talk to him or should i?"

"I'll do it. It's my work, and I don't think it's fair that you have to be the one to talk him into all of my crazy plans."

Jack nodded and folded his arms. "They do have a bad habit of going to hell at the part where we try to get out."

The two of them continued to Jiles' office, where he had finally managed to get some of the paperwork under control. He was happy for the interruption of the pair.

"What can I do for you two. No wait, let me guess. Jill managed to figure out the tablet and you want to check out what the results led to. Am I right?"

"Yes governor. The tablet points to a Forerunner installation that supposedly has a member of the First Civilisation there. It's in the Horsehead nebula so we'll need to borrow the _Jackdaw _for about three days to get there." Said Jill

"Alright. You can take the old team with you if you want, and you can leave today if you want."

"Sounds good. We'll leave tonight, and let the team prepare. Thanks uncle."

"My pleasure. We've been grounded by normal means, but Archons are still able to go where they please, so you can take the others with you. although Julia probably won't go, she had business in New Tyne that would probably take her a couple of days she said. So I wouldn't bother."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

_Jackdaw _exited slipspace and approached the coordinates, but there was nothing there.

"This doesn't seem right, there should be a planet here at least, the star map changes in real time and I was able to extrapolate an exact location from it." complained Jill. She held up the tablet to the window where the planet should be, and as she did so, a massive sphere materialised out of nowhere in front of _Jackdaw._

"Well I guess we found it after all." remarked the captain

"It must have been inside a slipspace bubble which kept it outside of our space. Wow." Said Jill, the captain rolled his eyes and brought _Jackdaw _into a high orbit around the enormous shield world. Jack and his team, consisting of him, Jill, Hank and Zhang, left the bridge and boarded a Longsword which flew towards the shield world.

"Jill, exactly how were you planning to get us into the planet?" asked Jack

The Longsword slowed its approach to the shield world, and then a hologram appeared in the middle of the cabin and everyone backed away from it. It was a circular symbol that looked like a circle with a line trailing downwards, surrounded by a cresenct shape. Jack was the first one to regain his composure and approached warily.

"Jack wait. What if it activates some kind of defence grid and shoots us out of the sky?" warned Jill

"No, I don't think so. I just have this feeling that it's not…" Jack walked forward with his hand outstretched, his mind foggy. His hand brushed the hologram and it suddenly went from translucent blue to red, and lightning arced from it to the ship's console. The Longsword was jerked forward towards the shield world, which opened a massive hole to allow them in.

"What's happening?" screamed Jill, as atmospheric turbulence shook everyone to the floor

"I don't know! I've lost control of the ship! We're going in!" said Ezio

The Longsword approached the planet's surface at a slow drift. It was headed straight for an enormous mountain that rose out of the landscape like someone's foot on a scaled diorama.

"Uh, Ezio, could you please steer us away from the huge mountain?" said Jack, slightly panicking

"The Longsword is not responding, I have no control of propulsion. We are being dragged in by an external force of unknown origin."

"Hey guys, look at the mountain." Said Zhang, leaning out over the console

The massive mountain loomed over the landscape, but as they approached, it seemed to shift minutely, as evidenced by an avalanche on either side. Then the mountain began to split in two, opening like the beak of a giant bird to let the ship through into the stomach of the world. The Longsword dove through the opening and the mountain closed shut behind them, cutting off all light. Ezio engaged the Longsword's external lights and it was revealed that the planet was hollow.

"We're definitely not in Kansas anymore." Said Zhang with wonder

Monitors flew around the ship, scanning it with waves of light and then peeling off, apparently satisfied.

The Longsword was gently lowered to a platform leading into one of the massive walls. Ezio once again had control of the Longsword but was still unable to take off.

"Don't bother Ezio. We should really look around. I think we've been brought here for a reason." Said Jack, who exited the Longsword and began to walk towards the opening in the wall that opened up several stories above him. Before he went any further, he called back to the rest of them still in the Longsword

"Guys, I'm going ahead. If you don't want to come, I won't make you, but I think you should all the same."

This was enough to get Jill, Hank and Zhang out of the Longsword and following Jack. Ezio decided to leave a fragment of himself inside the Longsword to make sure nothing bad happened to it and transferred himself to Jack's armour. The four of them approached the massive door in front of them which was shut tight. Hank flicked his energy blades on and marched forwards but Jack held him back and pointed up to the opening above them. Hank looked up and then back to Jack

"Do you really think it's that easy?" he asked

"Why shouldn't it be? Life is full of coincidences. And I can already see a climbing route up the wall." Replied Jack

Sure enough, there were channels and grooves along the wall that would be easy for Jack to navigate to get to the opening. He took a run up at the wall and shot several metres before he grabbed onto the ridge above the closed door.

"I'll go on ahead. If I get into trouble, I'll let you know. But otherwise wait here until I get the door open."

Jack continued his climb, making leaps up, down, left and right. He was just below the opening but it was too high for him to jump up to.

"There is a bar you can grab onto behind you. Try to back-eject." Said Ezio

"But if I miss wont I fall to my death?" replied Jack

"It's the only way up. Do not worry, I will guide you through it. First, wind up by rotating your hips and put most of your force on the foot you kick off with. Look behind you and guide your flight by pushing up and off with your arms."

Jack took a deep breath and did as Ezio instructed. He kicked off and leapt backwards, twisting in mid-air. He grabbed onto the bar and his heart skipped a beat as he looked down. He quickly snapped out of it and sidled along until he could continue to climb up the wall and put his feet on the solid ground that was the small buttress jutting out in front of the opening. He radioed his team below to let them know he was alright and continued onwards. He entered a large chamber that was dimly lit ahead, but several beams made themselves apparent to Jack and he swung down from them until he was back on the ground. As he looked around he noticed that the interior of the chamber was not made of the typical Forerunner materials, but rather more of the strange stone from the First Civilisation temples. He went to the door and pushed a button on the holographic control panel and the door slid open silently. His team entered and nodded their praise. As they all approached the interior of the chamber, it began to light up on their approach, until they reached a circular dais that was raised out of the floor and hovered a foot off the ground. They all climbed on it and suddenly they were enclosed by an orange forcefield. Then they descended into another chamber, much smaller than the one before and already lit with a ruddy orange glow from the object in the centre.

"Jack, what exactly have you dragged us into?" asked Hank cautiously

"I honestly have no idea Hank. Jill? You got anything?"

"Nope. This goes against any account I've ever read up on."

"Well then I suppose we have no choice but to head forward." Said Zhang

The group stepped off the dais and approached the centre of the room. Scattered around the central pedestal were several strange artefacts. Some resembled weapons, others were unidentifiable. Jack ran his hand across the pedestal and found it to be very hot. He yanked his hand back, and another glow emanated from behind them. They turned to see a hologram of what appeared to be a member of the First Civilisation. He was bent over double with a gruff beard and somewhat shabby clothes compared to those of Jupiter and the others.

"Mortals of Earth, approach. I have much to tell you."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

The group cautiously approached the figure, Jack at the front.

"Who are you?" he asked

The figure smiled at Jack, "I am known by your kind as Vulcan. I was the smith of the gods by your lore, and indeed I forged weapons for both my kind and yours."

Hank and Zhang stared at Vulcan agape. Hank took out a credit chip and handed it to Zhang, who pocketed it without a word.

"Are you really one of the First Civilisation?" asked Jill

Vulcan nodded.

"I am of Those Who Came Before. We created your kind to be docile workers, and look how far you have come; you even now use the technology of the Titans and not know it."

"The Titans? I don't understand." Said Jill

"Patience, let me tell you my story."

The room changed to represent events through Vulcan's eyes as he saw them in the third person.

"When we discovered that the Precursors denied us the Mantle of Responsibility, as were the Titans, although they referred to themselves as Forerunners," he added at the group's looks of confusion

"We wanted it so desperately that we created humanity as an alternative race to inherit the Mantle; you shared our appearance and ingenuity but only few of our undesirable traits. The Precursors agreed to our proposal, and humanity was chosen to inherit the responsibility of protecting all sentient life in the galaxy."

He shifted slightly and leant on his great anvil, now revealed to be the pedestal in the centre of the room

"The Forerunners were not happy with the Precursor's decision. The Forerunners attacked them, and the Precursors released the Flood upon the galaxy. Our humans fled their other worlds to find new places to hide from this Flood, but the Forerunners stood in their way, and a great war was fought. The Forerunners defeated Hercules, our greatest soldier, Achilles, our greatest pilot, and even Jason, our finest commander. Then, I was kidnapped by the Ur-Didact, who kept me as a prisoner of war and forced me to help him overthrow humanity and the Precursors. At first I refused, but he did things to me, things you could not even imagine until I relented."

He winced in pain of the memory

"I helped him build the Composer which was based on Juno's research, and his ship, _Mantle's Approach._ He slaughtered humanity until the only vestige we had was Earth. But both we and the Didact knew that the Earth was soon to be ripped apart by a solar cataclysm that would reverse the planet's magnetic poles. From what I heard, my race sought to prevent it or protect against it but it was all for naught. I haven't heard from them since. The Didact, after nearly destroying humanity, incurred the full wrath of the Precursors, who sent the Flood to them. The Forerunners fought valiantly, and the Didact charged me with the construction of a ship designed to combat this new threat, using the very material I invented to make it."

He gestured to the walls and ceiling

"But he activated the Halo array before it was completed, and I only had so much time to transfer myself into this form before every sentient being in the galaxy was destroyed."

"But that doesn't make sense, how can any of us still be here then?" asked Jill

"In my last act of defiance against the Didact, I told him to fire Halo at exactly the same moment the solar cataclysm would occur, unbeknownst to him. He did this, and the magnetic shift of the Earth's poles protected its inhabitants against the Halo weapon. I know not of the Didact's survival or of his wife's, but she thought his actions wrong. She helped me trick him and set a repopulation plan in order in case it did not work."

"This is all too much, I don't get any of this. Who's the Didact? What Precursors are we talking about now?" Said Jack, shaking his head

"It is fine Jack, you don't have to. I understand all of it, and I'm sure Jill does too." Said Ezio

Jill nodded and proceeded to ask Vulcan questions but he ignored her and limped up to Jack

"You have a great destiny ahead of you, I have seen it, but your body is damaged beyond your abilities to repair it. Whatever they have told you, it cannot be healed. But I can fix it, if you will give me information in return." Said Vulcan

"Information? What kind of information?" asked Jack

"The information you carry within you." Vulcan put his hand on Jack's head before he could protest, and Jack's vision went white. After what felt like an eternity, Vulcan released Jack, who stumbled and fell to his knees.

"Much has changed since I was last whole. Your body has now been healed. I also unlocked a hidden potential withinyou, which you will use against those who would see our creations controlled."

Jack could only cough, he threw off his helmet and he started coughing up blood and phlegm which pooled in front of him.

"Jack! Are you OK?" asked Jill, who rushed to his side.

Jack nodded and stopped coughing, then stood up slowly.

"What did you do to me?" asked Jack

"Your cells were damaged by some form of energy weapon. You would have died within a lunar cycle from now. Symptoms would have started showing in a few days' time. And your genetic potential had been unlocked. It will allow you and only you to wield the _Eden's Blade._"

"Is that another Sword of Eden?" asked Ezio

"Not in the sense you mean; it is the name of the ship I built for the Didact to fight the Flood. But now, it is yours, Jack Jiles. The Assassins now possess another Piece of Eden."

"No way, we get a First Civilisation ship? Awesome!" said Hank

"Yeah, can we see it Vulcan?" asked Zhang, excited

Vulcan glared at the two of them as if they were insignificant insects, but relented and ushered them towards a door that had appeared at the end of the chamber. As the group entered, the vast chasm was lit up progressively, revealing it to be of an impossible size. Vulcan became very serious as he began to describe it.

"It is my greatest piece of work yet; I had all the resources and skills of the Forerunners and the knowledge of how to craft them in unison with my own technology to create a weapon of devastating power. Its armour is constructed of an alloy of Forerunner material and my own material, which I call condenstone, as it has the ability to change its shape and constitution by use of mental commands. I set it to be controlled by a specific artefact that I knew the Forerunners would only be able to acquire if they destroyed the rest of my kind, but they obviously did not."

"Which artefact are you referring to?" asked Jill

"What you call the Apple of Eden. I also ensured that they would require the Staff of Eden in order to power it."

"So what you're saying is that we need both of them in order to fly this thing." Said Jack

"That is correct, Jack Jiles. I extracted information from your artificial intelligence and became aware that you do not have it as of present, and that you require raw materials for your fight against the human splinter group, the Templars. You may have these too, as they are plentiful on the surface of this world, as my gift and hopefully, my repentance for my betrayal."

Vulcan waved his hand and an enormous black thing loomed out of the fog below. It was huge; almost ten kilometres tall, and slender, in the shape of a short sword, with the curves of a traditional blade down the bottom and what appeared to be a large ring floating above a cavity in the centre.

"What's that thing in the middle?" asked Zhang

"That is a variant of the Halo weapon. I was given access to it, as the Didact wanted a way to attack the Precursors and their neural physics after the Flood had been dealt with. It begins to charge the pulse and then the energy convertor in the cavity behind it projects it towards the enemy like a bomb, where it is released and kills all sentient life in its blast radius of approximately one hundred kilometres. It would have been devastating, had they the chance. I have also installed Hardlight weapons and shielding that you can place anywhere on the ship, and the condenstone armour allows you to make your own adjustments to it. Also, on either side there are two modified Forerunner warships, the _Brontes _and the _Steropes,_ that can dock with _Eden's Blade_ as well as provide support or attack on their own. They are not constructed of condenstone, so you will have to make do. "

"Vulcan," began Jack, but was at a loss for words at the sheer majesty of the ship, "thank you for all this, but why are you giving this to us?"

"I have had several thousand years to think about my actions. I believe this is what is right. You may have this ship and the raw resources this planet contains. This may not be enough to atone for my sin and the lives of those who were lost when Halo fired, but it is all I can do in this form."

Vulcan's tone became lighter again as he said "Since you do not have either the Apple or the Staff, I will await your return until you have them both. When you are ready, _Eden's Blade_ shall fly into battle. Now, I permit you to leave this place so that you may tell your allies of this place. I await your return." Vulcan turned and walked back into the chamber, where he began sorting the myriad of items strewn about the anvil. The group said goodbye, and Jack had to drag Jill away from him in case she tried to ask any more questions.

"Come on Jill, there'll be plenty of time for that later, once we find the Staff and the Apple."


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

When they returned and reported their findings, Jiles thought they had all gone insane, until Ezio confirmed it.

"Alright then, so if Vulcan has given us all these resources and the greatest ship in existence, why can't we use it?"

"I was getting to that, we need the Apple of Eden and the Staff of Eden." Finished Jack

"Well that's going to be a problem; we lost the Apple of Eden hundreds of years ago, and the Staff was never recovered. We'll send out agents to glean information about their whereabouts. In the meantime, I want you to go with the people I'm sending to gather the resources from- what did you say the shield world was called?"

"Huh, we forgot about that. How about… Vesuvius?" suggested Hank

"Why Vesuvius?" asked Jiles

"In Pompeii, there was a volcano that was believed to be the forge of Vulcan, and when it rumbled he was at work in his forge." said Jill

"Alright, well I would like you to go along with them, and when we find the pieces of Eden, I want you to retrieve them too. The gods, or whatever they are, seem to favour individuals. Ezio was the first, followed by Desmond Miles, now apparently, it's you they like, and I see no reason to test-."

"Uncle, did you know the treatment for the radiation poisoning was failing?"

Jiles was silent for a while.

"You did! Why didn't you tell me?" said Jack in despair

"If I did, it would have caused you more pain than I could manage seeing from you. I vowed that I would not lose any more Jiles men, and I hoped that they would find a permanent cure while the treatment they administered prolonged it. It was always a gamble, but look at what you've achieved in the short time you've had-."

"Uncle, I only ask because it won't be a problem anymore."

"What?"

"Vulcan cured me, and I checked with the doctors, they said I was fully recovered, as if nothing ever happened. I asked them not to tell you because I wanted to hear it from you."

"And what did you expect?"

"Exactly what I heard. I appreciate you trying to do what's best for me, what's best for all of us, but there is a line, and not telling me I was going to die was over that line. Just promise me you'll never keep something like that hidden from me ever again."

Jiles stood up and swore and oath to never do it again. Jack was satisfied with this, and Jill made a formal request to go with Jack to help set up a research base on Vesuvius.

"Think about it governor, the opportunity to have someone who understands not just Forerunner technology, but First Civilisation technology too."

"I accept your request, and with the resources this opportunity provides, we will have no problems doing this. Do you mind if we have Insurrectionists working there too?"

"Not at all, after all, there's strength in numbers." Interrupted Jack, as he could see Jill was going to respond negatively, but he knew that they still needed the Insurrection, at least for a little while longer.

"There is one thing that I would ask of you Jack, before you leave for Vesuvius. Stay a while longer here on Venezia, at least until we can get you out of that armour. If Vulcan has healed you, then there is no longer a need to wait. Go down and get out before you leave, and I'll have an armour processing station set up there as well." said Jiles. Jack smiled behind his helmet and Jill visibly perked up at the news. He and Jill saluted and walked down to armour processing, hand in hand. Jiles watched them go with a sad smile of regret.

"Ah, young love. Such a tragedy in our line of work that it is the only kind that might last."

"Alright, this may tingle a little bit. I've been told it's easy to get used to, but-"

"Just do it Bennet." Said Jack

"Right, here we go."

The doctors removed pieces of his armour, slowly making their way to the underglove, which peeled off him like skin after being drained of the gel that he had depended upon for life up until now. He stood naked and shivering while the doctor closest to him handed him a towel and pointed him to the showers. He nodded his thanks and went, his body somewhat unaccustomed to walking without the weight of his armour but he made it there without incident.

He came out of the shower feeling like a new man, he felt confident and proud, knowing that even though he didn't look it, he was one of the most dangerous warriors in the galaxy. He admired his newly-discovered muscle tone which had improved dramatically since the improvements that had been made to him. After he had dressed, he thanked the doctors for their efforts and left for his quarters to retrieve his personal belongings which he would be taking to Vesuvius. After he had done so, he met the rest of the people coming with him, including Jill, Xavier and Dr Bennet. He waved to them and they all proceeded to board the shuttle which took them to _Jackdaw_.

Jack had packed lightly, taking only a few personal notes of interest and crucial things he knew he would need. The rest could be shipped once he had been settled. As he went over the plans for the base construction, there was a knock at his door.

"Come in."

It opened and revealed Jill standing there. Her gait was very loose, as if she seemed disinterested with the world around her.

Jack looked up from his datapad.

"Jill, good to see you. I was just going over the construction details for when we arrive. Did you get all your things before you left?"

Jill paused for a moment, running her hand along the wall,

"Yes, I have everything," She closed the door and locked it "Everything but you."

Jack swung his legs over his bunk and looked at Jill more seriously. He had never seen her like this, she seemed, determined, but at the same time distracted. It was puzzling Jack, and he wasn't sure what was going on, so he asked her.

"Jack, who's to say you need to understand everything there is in the universe? How about for one night, you forget about logic and reason, and instead," Jill caught the top of Jack's bunk and swung her face very close to his, "live in the present, without a care for the future."

Jack could feel his heart starting to beat rapidly, his face began to feel very hot and he began to panic internally, then Jill kissed him. It wasn't like the other kisses she had given him; it was more sensual, more longing. In the back of Jack's mind he could hear a little voice saying, "Wait, wait, wait!" but Jill let go of Jack's bunk and fell on him. They fell backwards onto the bunk and Jack let his emotions go before his logic. He began to kiss her back, he wrapped his arms around her and they rolled sideways within each other's embrace. They disengaged and Jack was breathless. He tried to say something but no words came out.

_Damn it, where's Ezio when I need him to interject for me?_

Jill put a finger to his lips and said, "No words Jack, this time, let me take point. I can tell by your reaction you don't know what to do, so I'll just have to guide you through it. Here, help me out of these clothes."

Jack's hands followed her instructions, and soon she had done the same to him.

"Now, I have you all to myself for once, and nothing is going to get between us this time." She said, smiling

They spent the rest of the night in each other's arms, in a wild burst, thousands of similar experiences rushed into his mind; the kisses, the feelings, the faces, they all guided Jack's movements, it became natural to him. Once again he was glad that Jill had taken as much interest in him as he had in her. Jill shrieked with pleasure, stunned at how quickly Jack had turned the situation around. After they finished, both of them panting, he found his voice and asked her, "Does- does this mean we're dating?"

Jill laughed and kissed him again.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Several months passed after the initial colonisation of the surface of the shield world's habitable surface. Vulcan was kind enough to offer Sentinels to aid in construction of new bases and facilities for the Assassins and Insurrectionists. Soon after a research base was fully constructed, Jack had some spare time to spend exploring the vast landscape. The Assassins had not spread far from the base of the massive mountain, which remained closed until Jack returned with the Apple and the Staff. Jill pestered Vulcan with questions every opportunity she got, and he was happy enough to indulge her. Through her questioning, she built up a working knowledge of First Civilisation and Ancient Human technologies and culture. All was peaceful on the secret world that the Templars could not find.

Out in the furthest reaches of the Horsehead nebula, someone watched pre-recorded footage of human ships approaching the shield world, laden with supplies and humans.

[Shipmaster, we have been monitoring these blasphemous humans for many months now, when will we attack then and cleanse the holy relic?]

The shipmaster turned away from the display and stared at his lieutenant in the eye, his four jaws quivering in anticipation.

[We will attack soon enough, but first we must make sure we are able to overwhelm them. Humans can be much harder to kill when they are confident.] he replied

[Of course, shipmaster. By your command.]

[Patience, Hirrul, we will soon relish in the majesty of the Forerunner's holy world, and we will take what rightfully belongs to us.]

Shipmaster Dam' Amaree ordered his fleet to remain hidden in the cloud of gas that concealed them from sensors both Covenant and human.

Another month passed on Vesuvius, and the colony was making good progress; a mining operation had begun, and trading with other colonies had been established. The raw materials had been shipped off to construct new bases and equipment on other worlds, they even had several new ships were being manufactured discreetly under the safety of the shield world's shield.

By this time, Dam 'Amaree's fleet was fully assembled and ready to attack.

[Now, after waiting for so long, watching you defile the gifts of the Forerunners with your feeble excuses for tools, we will cease your blasphemy and cleanse the wound you have wrought. Fleet of Achieving Repentance, attack!]

The Sangheili on the bridge gave howls of victory as they set their heavy cruiser on Vesuvius and its inhabitants.

"Jack, I need you down by the mountain entrance. It's important." Said Jill over the radio

"Copy that, I'm on my way." Jack shut off his radio "Oh well, I guess my armour will have to wait." Jack borrowed a Warthog that no-one was using and drove down through the colony to the very foot of the mountain, where a partially buried Forerunner structure led into the mountain's inner working, but was sealed until Vulcan decreed otherwise. Jack arrived in minutes and entered Jill's laboratory she and the other scientists had set up within the structure.

"Jack, good timing. Take a look at this; I'm getting strange readings at the edge of the nebula. There's a cloud of ionised gasses that wreak havoc with sensors, but the cloud appears to be spreading towards us. I can't make it out but it seems very suspicious."

Jack stared at the imaging Jill had taken using _Jackdaw's _sensors. He noticed that the cloud was dispersing in patches, and those patches were a regular pattern.

"Jill, send word to _Jackdaw,_ we got company."

Jack turned to make preparations, but Jill stopped him

"Jack, what do you mean? What did you see in those images?"

"That's no cloud, it's a fleet of ships, and I'm betting their not friendly."

Jack went up to the pedestal where they could communicate with Vulcan and activated it. Vulcan's image appeared on the top, miniaturised as if he were an AI.

"Jack Jiles, what do you need from me? I have nothing to give or tell you as of yet, and I doubt you would have retrieved the pieces of Eden yet."

"Vulcan, we have a fleet of ships approaching and we have no form of defence against them. Once again, we need your help." Said Jack, trying to make his request sound urgent

"This installation is not equipped with defences against ships, the only thing I can do is send out Sentinels to attack their ships, but I think they would be of limited use against an entire fleet."

"Anything you can do would help. We only have one ship, and it's not really built for combat."

"No, it is built for stealth, so maybe you should work with your strengths."

"I don't think that a small team will be able stop a whole fleet, regardless of how many they can kill before they're detected, they won't be able to stop them in time." Replied Jack

Vulcan's image creased its brow in acknowledgment and disappeared, leaving Jack to contemplate his words. Jill walked up to him and asked what was going on.

"Vulcan's going to send some Sentinels, but it won't be enough. He suggested we use _Jackdaw's _stealth to win, but I can't figure out how."

"Well, we could use it to get close enough to board one of their ships but I don't see how boarding a single ship will help."

"Miss Monroe, we have something on long-range sensors. It's a Covenant heavy cruiser at the head of the fleet. It's the Covenant alright, they're sending a transmission, audio only."

"Play it through." Said Jill

"You humans are nothing; insignificant insects who crawl over monuments you cannot fathom. We will crush you until you have nowhere left to run to. And we-"

"Can we send a response?" asked Jack

"Yes, but there's no guarantee they'll respond."

'Try anyway. This is Jack Jiles, I am a Spartan, and I think you know what we are capable of. I you do not retreat now and leave us in peace, we will be forced to use the might of the Forerunners to destroy you."

The Sangheili's rant ceased at Jack's words, then responded

"I don't believe that you can wield the power of gods to defeat us. Compared to us, you are children at play, poking and prodding what you do not understand until it explodes. We will take your miserable lives and cut them short, then mount your heads on our keep walls as trophies!"

Dam 'Amaree cut the transmission

"Well that was pleasant, we'll just have to show them we mean business. Release the Sentinels!"

Vulcan released Aggressor Sentinels out into the direction of the oncoming fleet. They were many but not enough to tip the scales; it was still anyone's win.

"Jack Jiles, we can stop them from coming in to attack at close range by reengaging the slipspace bubble that originally hid this world from view, but you must make sure everyone is inside, otherwise it will destroy them in the process."

"Thanks Vulcan, I'll get right on that."

Jack went over to the communications relay officer and told them to relay a message to _Jackdaw_

"_Jackdaw, _come in _Jackdaw._ This is AC-1, fall back to the shield world, repeat, fall back to the shield world."

"Roger that AC-1, falling back to the interior of Vesuvius. ETA twenty minutes."

In orbit, _Jackdaw_ began a wide turn that would bring it under the shield of Vesuvius. The Covenant fleet noticed the retreat of the only ship there, and the fact that no others came any more. They hastened to arrive before they could set up defences.

"You, operator. What other AA defences do we have?" said Jack to the woman at the next console

"We have two AA batteries and a single operational MAC cannon, but it's not powered up. We can get it up and running, and probably complete the other one before the Covenant gets here, but by my estimation it would be cutting it very close."

"Fine, divert all power and personnel to getting those guns online and aimed at those ships."

"I can help too," interrupted Vulcan, "I have larger Retriever Sentinels that are used for gathering raw materials, if we put weapons in them they would make for a formidable foe."

"Do it, and get them guarding the entrance. We shouldn't have to rely on gatherers instead of hunters in this situation."

Vulcan set to work attaching Hardlight weapons to the Retrievers by use of Constructor Sentinels. By the time the first ones were finished, _Jackdaw _was within the planet's atmosphere, and Xavier had a brainwave

"Jack, hey Jack! AC-4 to AC-1 and all that shit! I just thought of something great!" said Xavier over the short range radio

"What is it Xavier?" asked Jack

"You said you have that huge ship under the mountain, and that its primary weapon is independently powered, right?"

"Yeah, Vulcan mentioned that in the specs. What of it?"

"If we can just manoeuvre it so that it points towards the Covenant fleet, we can fire it and take them all out at once!"

Jack was stunned into silence

"That's, wow. Good thinking Xavier. Jill, can you get Vulcan to open the mountain and point _Eden's Blade _at the Covenant fleet, then fire the main weapon?"

Jill's voice was slightly garbled in static through the radio

"I suppose so, I'll talk to him. I'll let you know how that works out."


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

The huge mountain that overlooked the small colony slowly pulled its two halves apart to reveal a gaping chasm that led deep into the hollow planet. Through the opening, Vulcan positioned _Eden's Blade_ to fire through the opening in the shield world's outer surface.

"I can only hold it like this for a short while. If this fails, you will all die, you are aware of this?" said Vulcan's image to Jill

"Maybe, but it's the best solution we have. Fire when ready." Replied Jill

Vulcan glowered

"Do not see to order me about, Jill Monroe. I will fire the main weapon when the time is right. And that time is now."

_Eden's Blade_ charged the massive ring on its front; a corona of light grew around it. behind the ring, a deep blue pulse flared, and the light was gone, only to reappear in the middle of the Covenant fleet.

[Shipmaster, we are receiving high energy levels coming from within the fleet, and I cannot ascertain what kind of energy it is.]

[It matters not, the humans will die soon enough, and we will relish in the glory of our righteousness!]

The Sangheili cheered as their commander rallied them, and the mass of energy grew until it reached critical expansion and could no longer hold its shape and released its energy to the surrounding area; the entire Covenant fleet. A light wave was all that was felt as the entire crews of all the ships simply disintegrated into nothing.

From Vesuvius, the spectacle was nothing short of amazing.

Jack, his hand over his eyes to shield them from the light, gave a low whistle

"That was impressive." He said to no-one in particular

Those who also saw cheered at their easy victory.

"The sooner we find those two pieces of Eden, the sooner we can kick some ass." Said Xavier over the radio

"Can we get a signal through to Venezia?" asked Jack

"Not yet, the Covenant was jamming our signals and the equipment is still active. We'll have to send in a salvage team to turn it off and collect the loot. I volunteer." Said Xavier

"Granted. Gather anyone else you might need to take with you in addition to _Jackdaw's _salvage crew and get to work. As soon as you're done, we'll send a message to Venezia about the bag of goodies that just got dumped in our laps." Said Jack

"That's a weird expression." Commented Xavier

"I heard my father use it a few times and I guess it grew on me. Never mind, Xavier, go with them, make sure that there are no tricks they left on the ships."

"Yes sir. AC-4 out." Said Xavier

The terminal Jack stood at already had governor Jiles' holographic image projected their

"Jack, your message says that you wiped out an entire Covenant remnant fleet without a single casualty and no loss of assets? Please explain how."

"Xavier had this genius idea to use _Eden's Blade_ to take the fleet down, since its main weapon, a miniature Halo, is independently powered from the rest of the ship, allowing us to point and shoot."

"This, this is great news. We can actually use a localised Halo effect? That's amazing!"

"And we have all that Covenant technology too."

"Yes, that is also good, as we lost the help of our Sangheili contacts; they must have been found out and killed. We now have an entire fleet of ships at our disposal." Jiles could barely keep the childish glee out of his voice

"I can see you're happy with the results this colony has produced in the first few months. I'll report in in a week, unless there is something else?"

"Actually Jack, there was something that has caught my attention. We have received word on the location of the Staff of Eden."

Jack gripped the terminal on either side

"Really? Where is it?"

"Calm down, it's not confirmed. Someone intercepted a Covenant pirate fleet. The transmission was about a raid on a glassed planet where a strange artefact was discovered. The material was unlike anything they had seen and the artefact was unharmed. They referred to it as an unwieldy trinket. That's all we've heard from them."

"Are we tracking them?"

"It's difficult, but yes we are. They are currently en-route to Reach as we speak. If you leave now, you could probably catch them."

"Why are they raiding glassed planets?"

"I don't know, but you should move if you want to get to them in time. I trust you to do your level best here Jack; if this is the real deal we can't risk the Covenant finding out about the First Civilisation."

"Understood uncle. Nothing is true." Said Jack, saluting

"Everything is permitted." Finished Jiles, and cut the transmission

Jack ran out of the room as fast as he could to get to the Archon ready room in the research and development centre at the middle of the colony. He radioed Xavier, Jill and Ezio to meet him on _Jackdaw_ ASAP. Half an hour later, they were all assembled on _Jackdaw's _bridge, watching as it left the safety of the shield world and jump into slipspace.

Sometime later, they arrived in orbit of Reach. The former UNSC-controlled planet was now a smouldering ruin of its former glory. It was obvious that the Covenant was here, as there were ships still in orbit and more leaving it. The remains of humanity's fleet was scattered among the many disabled satellites, space stations and a few Covenant ships._ Jackdaw _stalked the largest ship as it prowled the debris field. Jack and company were already on-board a cloaked Longsword and ready to infiltrate the pirate cruiser. As it passed _Jackdaw_, the Longsword shot out of the hangar bay and shadowed the cruiser, circling it while scanning for a sign of a subtle entry.

"I found something, here. There is a boarding platform at the top of the ship that we can use to get an infiltration team in, who can open the hangar to let the Longsword inside. Jack and Xavier, you're on."

Jack and Xavier nodded and sealed their armour, headed down to the bomb bay and waited for further instructions. Ezio transferred himself to Jack's storage unit and waited until they were in position.

"Watch out; the cruiser's shield will interfere with out stealth field so there will be a moment of visibility." Warned Ezio. Jill, who was now monitoring the autopilot, nodded in recognition.

The Longsword made a slow descent to the top, and the rear doors opened in preparation for their insertion. Jack and Xavier prepared to push off towards the cruiser, just as its shields came into contact with the stealth field. It was only a moment, but the Longsword became completely visible to all within scanner range, including the cruiser and the rest of the fleet. Jack and Xavier dropped towards the cruiser without further delay, and the Longsword pulled away and reengaged stealth. Plasma cannons that were trained on their position suddenly powered down, as they lost their target just before they fired.

"Jack, in order to preserve stealth, we can't communicate with Jill until she's on the ship with us. We're on our own." Said Xavier as the two touched down on the top of the cruiser

They headed to the shielded ceiling that led into the communications array. Peeking over the edge, the two could see Sangheili running about the room, comparing data relating to the mysterious human fighter that was there one second and gone the next. Jack engaged his cloak and led Xavier through the multiple Sangheili who walked past them until they were out in the corridor. They progressed a few metres forward when Ezio stopped them

"Wait, there's a console you can put me into there. I'll help you from the inside."

Jack removed Ezio's AI chip and inserted it into the console. His image appeared on the holographic display and began to fight another AI already in the system. Ezio flicked out his two blades and battled with the vague outline of a red humanoid.

"Vile pestilence! Be gone from this place or die at the hands of the righteous!" screamed the Covenant AI

"You are nothing more than a false representation of us, what right do you have to be spouting nonsense about gods who abandoned the Covenant?"

Ezio punctuated his rebuttal with a brutal stab in the chest of the AI, who reacted as if it were a real person and convulsed as the blades sank into its projected abdomen. Ezio raised the AI off the console platform slightly and threw it off completely, where it disappeared at the edge of it and did not return. Ezio dusted of his hands and turned back to Jack and Xavier.

"What the hell was that just now?" asked Xavier

"That was a Covenant AI, derived from a human one. It was copied so many times that it had accumulated errors in its programming, making it easy to defeat."

"Fine, but we should keep moving. Ezio, did you find where they keep the pillaged items?" asked Jack

"Yes, they are at the bow of the ship. I will try to ensure the route is free, but there may be other AIs on-board, so be prepared to hide."

Jack drew his two pistols and Xavier pulled his shotgun from his shoulder and the two set off down the long hallway.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

As Jack and Xavier approached the location of the Staff of Eden, Ezio recalled Sangheili from their direct route to provide a relatively clear passage. There were a couple of Grunt squads patrolling but they were dealt with quickly and quietly.

"This next corner is it, watch out. The room is full of Elites, and I cannot remove them from their post." Warned Ezio

"Alright, finally some action." Said Xavier

"Ezio, jam their comms so they can't call for help. We'll take care of them."

"Done, go clear them out and get the Staff."

Jack and Xavier slid up against the wall on either side of the door. Ezio opened it and Xavier rolled into cover behind a large stack of crates. Two Elites heard the door mechanism go off and turned their heads to follow whoever was entering, but they didn't see Xavier's roll. Jack, on the other hand, had engaged his cloak and was approaching the two Sangheili, a gun in each hand. The Sangheili sniffed the air.

[I smell something, different. We should make sure it is nothing.]

[It is probably the stink of humans on their ill-gotten goods, brother. Just ignore it.]

The other Sangheili leant closer to the box where Xavier hid, then dismissed it and turned away, right into the barrel of Jack's pistol, where he shot both of them in the mouth; they both died with a quiet gurgle. Xavier ducked around and helped pull them behind the boxes. Miraculously, none of the other Sangheili spotted them.

"Xavier, take the next kill. Be as violent as you like." Whispered Jack

Xavier nodded and began to stalk one of the larger Sangheili. He waited until he had reached a console and activated it, then flicked out a blade and stabbed it through the chest, wrenching it around to tear up its insides. He let it slump to the floor, just as the other Sangheili turned at the sudden noise and moved to attack him. Xavier rushed the closest one and blasted its head clean off before it could engage its shields.

Jack, from his position behind the Sangheili carrying a concussion rifle, took his chance and killed the Sangheili, stealing the rifle and fired upon the other Sangheili around him until the clip was spent. He tossed the weapon aside and drew his own pistols again, just as Xavier brawled with a Sangheili and eventually turned it into the thrusting blade of an energy sword being wielded by another Sangheili, who soon died by Jack's gun.

"Xavier, you fight like a bear!" commented Jack

"I was once a wrestler slash chess boxer."

"Wait, chess boxer?"

"I'll explain later, watch your six!"

Jack turned and saw a massive Sangheili which knocked him to the ground. Jack sprung right back up and flicked on his blades and engaged the foe. The Sangheili picked up an energy sword from a nearby fallen comrade and circled Jack, who waited patiently. Then the Sangheili lunged forward viciously. Jack parried the strike and sent the Sangheili head-first into a crate of human weapons which rained over its head, making a loud clattering noise as they hit its armour. The Sangheili pushed itself back up and roared, swinging at Jack hard and fast. Jack blocked most of the blows with his own blades but the Sangheili was strong, and Jack could only keep it up for so long. He locked both his blades within the energy sword and held his face near the snarling Sangheili's.

"You can't win; even if the gods were on your side, we've won their respect and you are nothing in their eyes."

"Rrrargh! Blasphemy! Now die!" replied the Sangheili, and with a massive push, he shoved Jack backwards and took an underhand swing but Jack was already too close. He grabbed the Sangheili's wrist and twisted it, forcing the blade into a wall and breaking the wrist, then stabbed it twice in the chest and once in the throat, firing his particle beam as a finisher. Meanwhile, Xavier was standing over a fresh kill, the body just slumping to the floor.

"Well, that was fun," said Xavier, panting "we should do this more often Jack."

"I'm in no hurry. Come on, let's find the Staff." Said Jack

Xavier went over to the console that the Sangheili had left open and checked the inventory. The Staff was in one of the sealed containers which had survived the fighting and glassing. He went over to it and Ezio tried to unlock it, but it was shut tight.

"Ok, how should we go about opening this?" asked Jack

"Here, let me try something." Xavier pulled his crossbow and fired at the display. The electro-static charge short-circuited the electronics, and a loud mechanical click was heard, but the crate remained tightly sealed.

"I think that only made it worse. My turn to try something." Said Jack

He walked up to the crate, flicked out his blades and began carefully cutting out the locks until the lid just came off. Inside was the mythical Staff of Eden, its golden glow dull and its sheen gone, but it was suspiciously dust-free.

"I expected something, different." Said Xavier

"Why? What other pieces of Eden have you seen?" asked Ezio

"None, but still."

"It doesn't matter, we got it, let's just move." Said Jack, reaching to pick it up

"Wait, what if it's a fake?" said Xavier

"How would we tell?" said Jack

"Jack, we use pieces of Eden to a much greater extent than most. Pick it up and we'll see." Said Ezio

Jack shrugged and picked up the Staff. Immediately, it began to glow, shooting angular beams of light around the storage area. They soon lessened and it returned to a dull throbbing glow.

"I don't think it's fake." Said Jack, somewhat smugly

"Yeah fine, let's just go." Said Xavier

"There's a hangar bay close by, I'll direct you there and we can let Jill in and get out of here." Said Ezio

The two set off at a run down the corridor, Xavier taking the lead with his shotgun and Jack with the Staff. Their boots made barely a noise on the strange material of the ship's floor.

"Now is later, so what was that thing about chess boxing?" asked Jack

"Oh man, it's great. You know about chess right?" asked Xavier

"Yeah of course."

"Well, chess boxing is where you box, then you play a game of chess in between rounds. A battle of wits and fists." Said Xavier, blasting some Kig-yar out of the way before continuing

They reached the hangar and found the console unguarded. Ezio lowered the shields to allow Jill's Longsword through and Jack and Xavier cleaned out the rest of the pirate forces still gathered there. As the last one was finished off, the doors opened and two Mgalekgolo came thundering down the walkway, charging their heavy plasma cannons as they came.

"Shit, Hunters!" cried Jack as he rolled to cover, Xavier did the same as two blasts of plasma hit the spot they had just been standing in. the Hunters growled and continued to assault their position with plasma blasts.

"How do you recommend we handle this one?" asked Xavier

"I would go cloaked, but I think they would hit me anyway."

"We gotta do something, and fast; they're trying to flank us."

Time slowed down for Jack, just for a second, then an idea came into his head.

"Xavier, cover me. I'm going over the top-"

"What!?"

"-Ezio, time my jump, find a gap in their fire."

"Alright, ready? Now!"

Jack vaulted over the next plasma blast, which propelled him forward slightly but did no damage. He sprinted forward, half-invisible and the Mgalekgolo had a hard time of following him. One went to smash Jack with its shield, but the arm was blown off by an explosive bolt fired from Xavier's crossbow. Jack slid between the two Mgalekgolo and slammed the bottom of the Staff into the ground. Bolts of white lightning arced across the floor and covered the Mgalekgolo colonies, writhing through their armour until they shook themselves apart. The individual Lekgolo squirmed in agony on the floor.

"Jill you are clear to board, let's get out of here." Said Jack

"Thanks Jack, on my way."

Xavier slung his crossbow and walked up to the writhing mass of eel-like life forms

"What the hell was that?"

"I made it so that they couldn't stand each other and had to separate. That's all a Hunter is; a colony of individual units. These things." explained Jack, kicking over one of the Lekgolo.

Jill entered the hangar doors and Xavier got on board. Jack pulled Ezio from the pirate's systems then boarded the ship and took a seat heavily, the chair groaned in protest.

"Oh, man. Glad that's over." said Jack, pulling his helmet off

"Glad you guys made it out OK." Said Jill

"So am I." said a hologram of governor Jiles that had appeared on the console "Did you retrieve the Staff of Eden?"

"Yes sir, and Jack used it to kill a couple of Hunters too, so we know it works." Said Xavier

"Excellent. _Jackdaw_'s making its way to your position now. We are also sending some of our newly-acquired reinforcements to help clean up the pirates. I will be expecting your report once you return to Vesuvius. Kallos out." Jiles' image faded away.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

The Longsword approached _Jackdaw_'s hangar and settled down for landing. Flight technicians checked over the refitted fighter while its passengers disembarked.

"Jack, we should take the Staff to Vesuvius soon. Vulcan might have something for us." Said Jill

"Or you just want to ask him about it." said Jack

"Oh I can't help myself! He's a brilliant engineer, and the things he knows about humans, it's so overwhelming! And to think that we might reach that level of technology by ourselves someday, it just-"

Jack was very tired and was in no mood to hear Jill go on about Vulcan again,

"Jill, enough. I get it. we'll tell the captain to get us back to Vesuvius. You can calm down." Said Jack, putting his hand on Jill's shoulder to calm her down

"Alright. I'll meet you upstairs." Jill gave Jack a cheeky smile and walked off humming

Jack smiled at her retreating figure and went up to the bridge.

Later, _Jackdaw _entered Vesuvius' orbit and sent down the Longsword.

"You know, we should really stop calling it a Longsword, now that it's a stealth fighter rather than an interceptor." Said Xavier as the three of them and Cassandra descended to Vesuvius' surface

"I suppose, although if we were to rename it, it would still technically come under the same definition as a Longsword. We can't call it a Prowler, because it isn't, so what do you suggest?" said Jack

"I don't know, maybe something more stealthy, like a stiletto, or a shiv."

"I like shiv, actually. Let's go with that."

"Alright, I'll talk to some people to make it official. And we could make it more defined by adding some more modifications, like missile launchers and mines, like the C712. Our old C709 is only really used for transport because it's fast, but it's supposed to be used for exoatmospheric engagements, and it's only got a rotary gun for that."

"I'll see what we can do. When we land, I'll talk to some of the engineers, maybe Vulcan can help us." Said Jill

"Thanks Jill. Oh, by the way, how was your first time piloting?"

"I wasn't actually piloting; it was Cassandra, I was the navigator, since she doesn't need a co-pilot."

"Ah, what's the difference. How was it?"

Jill shrugged modestly

"It was interesting, but I wouldn't want to do it any more than I'd have to. Leave that to Holly."

Xavier squinted in confusion but dropped the matter with a shrug

"Hey, Xavier, did you know anyone in that group who went up against that secret military project? The one who was using experimental AIs?" asked Jack suddenly

Xavier's face darkened a little and he leaned on his leg, "Yeah, I lost my sister to those bastards, though her boyfriend is doing some good work for us now."

"Oh, crap, sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's OK, she was deep undercover, helping us locate Forerunner artefacts before the UNSC could. We found some pretty interesting stuff, though…" Xavier stared out of the viewport

Jack sat back in shock, and quickly tried to change the subject, "Well, uh, anyway, so the Shiv, what else do you think we should do to make it better? How about some lasers? Or the microwave weapon we destroyed at Misriah?"

Xavier's shoulders rose once as he laughed

"We haven't quite figured out how to make the microwave weapon effective yet;" said Cassandra from the cockpit "we theorised that they wanted to use it for interplanetary sieges, where they would have a long time to attack an area on a planet, like our bases, so they could have surgical strikes that no-one would see, and they could blame it on some disease."

"Hey guys, we're coming in for landing. Let's go." Said Jill

They all stood as the Longsword touched down for the last time, as from then on it would be referred to as a Shiv. Jill did as she promised and went to ask the engineers what modifications they could apply to the Shiv, Xavier went to the Archon maintenance building and Jack went to wait by the entrance of the subterranean chasm that housed Vulcan's current form and _Eden's Blade_.

Jill soon arrived at the entrance with her datapad under her arm.

"You ready?" asked Jack

"Yep, got the Staff?" replied Jill

"Of course," Jack motioned to the Staff, hidden behind a rock

"Why'd you hide it?"

"You can't trust anybody now, not since my uncle's betrayal. I'm taking every precaution with something as delicate as this, that's why we only had three team members when we retrieved it."

"And yet you brought an Insurrectionist?"

"He's actually our inside man. Don't worry; he's completely trustworthy."

Jack keyed the access panel into the mountain, which responded to his human touch and opened a slab of rock in front of the rock face. Jack and Jill walked down the passage where a floating platform waited to bring them to Vulcan's chamber. Once they were both on, it started moving by itself. After a descent that lasted a few minutes, they reached the platform and entered the chamber. Vulcan was already there, running through diagnostics of _Eden's _power systems.

"Vulcan, we got the Staff." Said Jack

"I know; that is how you were able to enter the mountain. Follow me and we will install it."

Vulcan led them deep into _Eden's Blade_ and the massive empty space within. It was mostly an empty shell, waiting for input as to how it would shape its internal structure. Jack was already thinking of what kind of internal transport it should have. Vulcan made another floating platform, this time out of condenstone that carried the three of them up to just below the main weapon, were a series of complicated lines criss-crossed the walls that spread throughout the entire ship. The lines all originated here, but there was an indent in the wall that was clearly meant for the Staff.

Vulcan motioned for Jack to place it in the indent, and he did so. As he stood back, the Staff began to glow, this time more blue than white. The light spread throughout the rest of the ship and a faint glow could be seen in the vast distance, and there was a faint smell of ozone.

"_Eden's Blade _will fly, finally, with those who deserve it at the helm. Now all you need is the Apple of Eden to control the condenstone." Said Vulcan with a grin

"Vulcan, I realised that you were able to control the condenstone without the Apple, why can't you shape the ship to our design?" said Jill

"_Eden's Blade _was designed to be able to fight the Flood, to be able to change its composition and internal structure in order to face and handle any new threat."

Jill nodded with understanding

"Either way, we should still retrieve the Apple. I'd hate for anyone else to be able to control our ship." Said Jack

"Good point." Replied Jill

"You two should return to find it then. Jill Monroe, no doubt you have questions. You may remain for one hour to ask them. Jack Jiles, you should return to the surface. I have something else for you that you can use for the ship you call a shiv."

"How, did you know about that?" asked Jack

"I hear all that is said within the confines of the laboratory you built within my mountain. I just choose not to respond unless directly spoken to."

Jill suddenly felt very embarrassed.

Jack returned to the surface and headed straight for the laboratory set up within the Forerunner structure in the mountain. He consulted the technicians there and opened the terminal to access the plans that Vulcan sent them. They were plans and specs for Sentinel beams and large-scale Hardlight shields that could be implemented into the Shiv.

"If you can put small but powerful weapons on it that would help. Install the Hardlight shields on the underside of the fighter to protect against anti-air and the Sentinel beam weapons at fore and aft. Add any other modifications that you think are necessary. I'll leave the rest in your capable hands, I have a report to do."

"Of course mister Jiles. We will put our best aerospace engineers and weapons technicians on it. Most of what you request can be done, especially since we now have access to the Covenant generators that can provide enough power for all these weapons and the ship itself." replied the head engineer

Jack left the instructions with the head engineer and set off for the communications array to send his report to his uncle.

"Uncle, I leave this report as it is apparent you are currently away from your desk. The mission went successfully. It was wise of you to suggest a small infiltration team, given the nature of the asset, as it aided us greatly that we only needed to account for two members within enemy territory. According to Assassin Jill Monroe, the AI Cassandra did a superb job of piloting the Longsword, which we have decided to modify and rename as a Shiv, see attached files. No losses were recorded, successful extraction, followed by mop up by our acquired Covenant fleet. On our return to base, the Staff of Eden was implemented in _Eden's Blade_. Vulcan states that it is now operational, but needs the Apple of Eden for it to work. End report." Jack closed the terminal, uploaded the files relating to the new design for the Shiv technology and sent it to mount Kallos.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Only six months later, and the abandoned Covenant fleet was fully staffed and hidden away in a far-off sector, awaiting the call for its aid. Shiv stealth fighters were being prepped, their armament finalised and formidable: Sentinel beams, Medusa missiles, multi-ordnance bomb bays, plasma weaponry and power supply systems extrapolated from the Covenant, Hardlight shielding and lighter hulls in addition to the stealth system that gave it its unique definition; it was small, easily hidden and very deadly. These fighters were rolling off the shelf of the now-complete Vesuvius manufacturing plant. Four new Archons had also joined the ranks, and one had been lost during a mission that was to retrieve a Piece of Eden, which turned out to be a trap. The Templars were on to them now, and making their own preparations.

"Sebastian, you can't just use brute force to overwhelm every opponent. You have to use the other techniques I taught you." said Alistair to his protégé

"But master, I know I can overwhelm any opponent-" Sebastian bit his tongue as soon as he said the words

"Oh really? Well then, try and defeat me." Said Alistair, getting up from his chair and shaking his arms loosely. Sebastian gulped and got into a defensive stance, knowing full well that he deserved whatever he was about to receive.

"Ah, a defensive stance, you realise the idiocy in your words. Good, but I'm not going any easier on you."

Alistair rushed forward initiating the sparring session. Sebastian jumped back and went for a side step, which Alistair easily saw coming and spun even as he moved forward, catching Sebastian's trailing hand and twisting it, causing him to release the stun baton he held. Alistair released the wrist, caught the baton and swung at Sebastian's leg, but Sebastian had already moved back and was about to move forward to step on the baton. He succeeded, but in doing so, Alistair had swept him with his feet while his weight was on the baton. Sebastian fell to the floor, but sprung backwards and was right back up, dashing forward in a feint to Alistair's left. Alistair was caught off guard, and Sebastian delivered a powerful blow to Alistair's ribs. If he hadn't already noticed it, it may have broken some of his ribs, but instead he swivelled his body and turned with the blow, spinning around 360 degrees and smashing Sebastian in the back of his head with a fully-wound up backhand strike which knocked him to the floor unconscious.

Sebastian was dazed and confused when he woke up again a few minutes later.

"You see, you can always take an opponent of superior strength if you can avoid their attacks, and use your body's natural strength to hit their weak spots, where you don't need to hit hard, just accurately." Said Alistair,

"Of course master, please forgive my insolence." Said Sebastian. Bowing his head, he slowly walked away from the training room floor and down to his quarters to dull the pain

As Alistair returned to his own quarters, Balenka paged him to come to her office. Alistair detoured to the elevators and took it to the top floor where grandmaster Balenka had a view of the New York skyline. Alistair knocked twice and waited to be let in. Balenka's personal AI, Justine, appeared in front of the door

"Go on in, she's expecting you."

Alistair nodded and walked in. Balenka was sitting on the balcony, sipping a cocktail and watching the sunset. Alistair cleared his throat and Balenka waved him forward. Alistair stood by the glass window.

"Tell me, Jiles, have you ever seen a sunset so beautiful?" she asked contemplatively

"Actually, the sunsets on Venezia are superb over the forests, and the lack of tethers makes it an impoverished view."

Balenka put down the cocktail and motioned for Alistair to sit on the other chair

"I wanted to inform you, we have been tracking Assassin movements to some of the glassed colonies, they are searching for something. Our analysts tell me that they are looking for Pieces of Eden. We set a trap for them last time, and we managed to kill one of their, what did they call them?"

"I believe they are called Archons." Said Justine

Alistair remained quiet, and Balenka continued after a while

"I hear that the peace talks with the Arbiter went somewhat badly; a xenolinguist had been invited to see their temples, and there was an attack. This goes to show that the UNSC's idea of a peace treaty may not have been the best idea. I think we need to eliminate any other opposition before we deal with the Assassins, as much as it pains me to say."

Alistair frowned

"Grandmaster, is something bothering you?" asked Alistair

"Actually, yes. If the Assassins are searching for Pieces of Eden, a lot of old disputes could suddenly come to public eye, and we would like to prevent that at all cost. It's the Elite zealot teams all over again."

"Pardon?"

"Just before we lost Reach, the Covenant was sending Eilte zealot-class strike teams to gather any data we had on their so-called gods. They were brutally effective, and these Archons are much the same."

Alistair sat and watched the last of the sunset before speaking again

"What if I were to go with the ambush teams on the next one? I know how the Assassins fight, and the last group I trained who went up against them got out with all of the team surviving."

"Yes, but they were Spartans and they were on the offense, not the defence." Snapped Balenka. After a pause though, she relented

"Alright Jiles, you've made your case. I'll send you with the next team to ambush the Assassins. Keep in mind that if you fail, it's likely to be on your head, so you'd better do it right."

"Of course, and if I may, I would like to take Sebastian. He needs the fieldwork if he's ever going to be useful to us."

"No, I saw his training session today, and I think he still needs work. If the next mission doesn't have Archons, then yes."

The next day, Alistair was on a cruiser bound for Chi Ceti IV.

"Jack, we've got another hit for the Apple, this time it's Chi Ceti IV." Said Xavier, just coming from the communications relay

Jack looked away from the construction site and turned to face Xavier

"Are you sure? Remember what happened last time."

"Yeah, I know. I hate that we lost Harry too, but at least he took that Templar base with him."

"I'll be taking someone else with us this time, if she'll come."

"Who? You're girlfriend?"

"No, not Jill. An old friend; Julia Stroud."

"Oh, wow. Please tell me you're taking Ben with you."

"I wasn't planning on it, I was planning to take Miranda and Zhang with us too. Plus, now that Julia's an Archon, she should be somewhat easier to work with, but she's been to Chi Ceti and should know the terrain better than any of us, and some other helpful tricks too."

Xavier waved as he ran off after one of his friends

"Whatever Jack, good luck with that. Hey Betty! Hold up a sec!"

Jack watched him go, then returned to watching the new mining equipment being put in place. After a while, he returned to the communications relay and sent his personnel request to mount Kallos. He got the reply within the hour, and Julia accepted and had left a comment along with the confirmation message. It read: "I'll be there, because I know you'd be lost without me. Also, I'm sorry for the way I treated you all these years, I realise now that I should have been hating Ben instead."

Jack smiled and shook his head at the message. He went to armour processing and got out of his armour. As he walked past the training field, he saw a lone figure duelling with a training drone. The person was adept, but even from this distance Jack noticed several mistakes. He walked onto the field and saw that it was Jill.

"Hey Jill!" cried Jack as he approached

Jill looked up from the drone to see who said her name, then the drone landed two hits to the gut and one to the face and Jill fell to the ground. Jack walked over and helped her up while the drone powered down. She grunted with pain.

"Wouldn't you rather train with a person rather than a drone?" asked Jack

"Sorry, it's been a while since I did any of this." Replied Jill, now on her feet

"Would you like some help? I noticed a couple of things you may have missed."

"Ok, sure."

"Ok, well first of all, you have your arms tensed; you should keep them a little bit loose. Also, don't focus on killing your opponent, it's just as effective to disarm or disable them. And these drones respond best to being disabled…"


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Chi Ceti IV came into view much faster than any of the crew suspected, due to the gravity slingshot effect that _Jackdaw _utilised to increase the speed of its approach. The planet had been recently reoccupied by humanity after the Covenant forced them to evacuate, and it was here that the Apple of Eden was supposedly located, at an old UNSC training centre.

"I suppose it was to ensure that it would always be protected by a group of soldiers, even if they were untrained, they still had a measure of skill they could use to defend themselves." Commented Jack, as the Shiv descended unseen to the planet's surface

"Or it could end up like the Corbulo military academy." Remarked Julia

Jack grimaced at the memory

"Even though they were training to kill us, you gotta feel sorry for that many lives lost." Said Jack

"Man up Jiles, the Covenant was ruthless, and that tells me only one thing: that we have to be just as ruthless as them if we are to survive against the Templars." Said Jill in a mocking militaristic tone

Jack looked up at her and smiled behind his helmet, "Is that any way to talk to your commanding officer, Stroud?"

Julia suddenly stiffened and replied with a forced "No sir, sorry sir."

Zhang stifled a giggle and Miranda nudged him gently, otherwise she might damage him in her amour. Julia ignored them and continued tying her long auburn hair back

"Julia, what can we expect on Chi Ceti?" asked Jack

"I was once sent to infiltrate the UNSC training centre they have there, although I was only a student there for a while. The terrain is somewhat rugged, they didn't seem to bother cultivating much of the land, just what they needed, so it's a nearly-untouched landscape. The atmosphere is relatively stable all-year round, and we should see minimal resistance, if any. They are still rebuilding the training centre, so it should give us some cover, but this is Jack's op, so he going to lead us through it." said Julia

"Are there any shortcuts or things like that that we could use?" asked Zhang

"None that I know of, and they would have been destroyed anyway." Replied Julia

"Alright, the last mission I went through like this, I did it solo, but that was in space. I think we can do something similar; I go in and the rest of you follow discreetly as backup." Said Jack

"This is actually an effective strategy I performed myself many times, and if you all have Jack's back, we can pull this off easily." Said Ezio

The Shiv descended to a forest, at the edge of it was the training centre. It was in bad shape, and workers clambered around it like ants, repairing and rebuilding until it could be reused.

"Boy, you sure you can run this gauntlet?" asked Miranda

"Zhang, check for enemies." Said Jack through the comm

"No hostiles as far as I can see, but you'll have some trouble finding it, unless you know where it is." Replied Zhang from his hidden vantage point

"Then yes, Miranda, I think I can." Replied Jack

"The training centre had a vault where they kept confiscated items," said Julia "And that was located in the northwest building, next to the staff sleeping quarters. Whether or not they removed the items I don't know."

"Our agent said that this was the last place that anything resembling the Apple was found."

"But they said 'bout the others too. How can we be sure? It could be a trap." Said Miranda, who was still behind Jack

"We don't, but this is too important to miss out on if it is the real thing." Replied Jack

"If the Templars know what we're doing, they could have us jumping at fruits while stealing the ladder out from under us."

Jack looked at Miranda with a puzzling look on his face, which she could not see because of his helmet

"What?"

"That sounds like a weird expression," Jack shook his head and continued forward "Never mind."

Ezio calculated a route to take through the construction site for each team member. Jack's route led straight through the shell of a building that had been eaten away by the weather and wind. Jack got into position and used his motion tracker and Zhang's guidance to track a target. His armour's holographic overlay had new firmware that was able to replicate a person's features so that he could move about a group of people undetected, provided he didn't need to physically interact with them.

"'Round this corner, a worker's coming. Put him to sleep then hide him in the tubes nearby." Said Zhang through the comm

Jack followed the instructions and hid behind the corner waiting. As the construction worker turned the corner, Jack struck, clamping his hand over his mouth until he fell unconscious. He threw the body over his shoulder and quickly hid it in a pile of tubing, but not before letting Ezio scan his body to camouflage Jack. As Jack stood up, satisfied that no-one would find him anytime soon, he activated his holographic overlay and suddenly he looked like the worker he'd just disabled. He tied cable around the worker's hands, feet and mouth, picked up some tools from the unconscious worker and went towards the building with his head low. He was unimpeded in his progress and was quickly at the entrance to the building that Julia mentioned. The other Assassins dropped down in front of him and entered the building, while Zhang remained outside to cover the entrance.

"Alright everyone, watch your sixes. Julia take point, take us to the vault." Said Jack as he disengaged his camouflage

Julia nodded and strode forward with her crossbow out. Miranda followed alongside Jack, who backed his way inside.

Julia led them down several dusty corridors; half of them had no lighting. They reached a large metal door within a few minutes and Jack and Julia set about cutting their way inside. They finished, and they then positioned themselves to lift the heavy door out from its place.

"Wait," said Jack suddenly. He left Julia supporting one end, then waved her away. She backed off, then Jack gave the door a powerful kick. It fell forward into the room. As it fell, Julia asked "What-" but was interrupted by several trip mines going off, triggered by the movement of the falling door. The blast tore apart the edges of the door, leaving only the charred centre. Jack looked inside and found the room empty.

"Well 'aint that just fabulous. There's nothing here!" exclaimed Miranda, kicking the remains of the door in frustration

"Jack, come in. I got movement in your sector, lots of guys with guns. Should I engage?" said Zhang

"Negative, stay down. We'll take care of it." Jack cut off his comm "Alright, we've been detected. Set up a perimeter. Miranda, at the back with your rifle; Julia, set up an ambush. Try to keep one alive."

"What about you?" asked Julia

"I'll be charging right through the middle. Try not to shoot me."

"The trip mines went off; we're on our way to investigate." Said one soldier in the group who was now entering the building

"I'm betting it's those damn terrorists." Said another

"Probably, either way, we have orders to take out anyone who's interfering. This is supposed to be a secure zone."

"What could be so important that they have to keep it hidden in a derelict training centre?"

"Shut up, both of you. We have orders, just get in there and clear them out." said their captain.

The eight soldiers followed the captain into the empty building, unsure of what they were going to find.

"Mines are in place Jack." Said Miranda

"Good, I can see them on my motion tracker, get in position."

"The vault is this way. Just around this corner. Laddel, check it out."

The soldier moved forward cautiously, his heart was beating just a little bit faster as he pressed his body against the wall. Breathing out quietly, he spun out into the room, and was blown apart by the mines Miranda had set.

"Move! Move! Move!" yelled the captain "Anti-explosives now!"

Two soldiers threw in decoys to set off any more mines. The decoys did their job, as the last of the mines went off, filling the room and corridor with thick black smoke. Jack strode through the smoke with his thermals engaged, seeing all the soldiers coughing and waving the smoke away. Jack flicked on his blades, and a sniper round went straight past his shoulder into the captain's head, the noise the rifle made echoed throughout the building.

"Captain's down! Watch for *cough* snipers!" said one of the soldiers, who was then stabbed through the chest by Julia, who had come around behind him. A wave of killing rippled out from there.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Jack swung into action just after the captain died, he went straight for the nearest soldier, pulling him close and stabbing him in the gut. He died slowly and painfully as his gastric acids burned away at his insides. The smoke had cleared a little, and Jack was now visible but he didn't care. He rolled out of the way of the soldier's fire and pulled his crossbow off his back, triggering the blade on it as he did so. He swung it around, taking out the legs of one soldier, then stabbing straight down through his chest. He pulled it out, retracted the blade and shot another one through the face while Julia spun that one around and used him as a shield against another wave of fire. She then threw a plasma grenade as hard as she could, knocking down another soldier, sticking to her head, which then exploded in a plume of blue fire. The other two soldiers had moved out of the way of the blast and one stood in front of Jack, about to fire his shotgun in Jack's face, but he finally got a good view of his face and saw that it was a Spartan he was about to shoot.

"What the hell?" were his last words before Jack grabbed him around the neck, stabbing him with his energy blade, picked him up in midstride and threw him into the final soldier, who barrelled out of the way, only to be swept out by Julia, who pressed her foot against the soldier's neck

"Are there any more?" she asked

"What?" choked the soldier

"Are you the only group of soldiers, or are there more?" she repeated

"We were told to defend the building after setting the trap. I don't know why we were fighting Spartans."

"Newsflash dude, we 'aint Spartans." Said Miranda

"But, why-"

"Tell me what I want to know!" bellowed Julia, pressing harder on his neck. The soldier couldn't breathe, so she let off a little

"We were the only team sent, but there was another guy sent to instruct us about the mission, but I don't know where he went."

"Good, now, what to do with you…" said Julia contemplatively

"Julia, don't harm him. Just knock him out." Said Jack

Julia shrugged and obliged. The man's head fell back on the ground.

"We should get out of here, it's not in here." Said Julia

"Agreed. Zhang, how's our exit?" said Jack

Zhang replied through grainy static, "It'ssssshear, I'll get thesssshh"

"Zhang, you're breaking up. We'll meet you at the rendezvous point in ten minutes. AC-1 out." Jack turned to the two Archons "Let's go, before any more traps are sprung."

"Jack? Jack! Dammit, stupid radio." Complained Zhang as he wacked his comm against the ground before giving up and continuing to watch the exit. He saw Jack and the others emerge from the building. He breathed a sigh of relief, then chided himself for worrying. He picked up his rifle and pulled back to the Shiv's hidden landing site.

"Cover the rooftops just in case. I don't trust that guy." Said Jack, and Miranda and Julia scaled the crumbled buildings to comply. As Jack rounded a corner, he ran headfirst into a group of marines who were startled at his approach, then fired at him. Jack took out the first two with his particle beam gauntlets, then dashed forward to stab the next two. The tight space meant that fighting was extremely hard for those with ranged weapons, and Jack had the advantage. He keyed a command through to Miranda and Julia, and they leapt from the rooftops like panthers and killed another two each. The only one left was the Spartan at the other end, who was wearing Hayabusa armour, complete with a katana on his back. Julia rushed to engage, while Miranda backed up and pulled a battle rifle off of her back. Julia swung at the assailant, who sidestepped both strikes and elbowed Julia in the face, twisting her arms and flipping her over, armour and all. She landed on the ground on her back, stunned for a minute. Miranda squeezed a few shots, the Hayabusa's shields flickered until it started to deflect them with its sword.

"Pathetic, both of you." said the Hayabusa

Jack, who was holding back due to the lack of space, was frozen with recollection, _That voice, no, it can't be._

Meanwhile, the Hayabusa had reached Miranda, who wasn't particularly good at close quarters, and knocked her gun away, slicing at her exposed underglove with the intent to kill. Jack only just intercepted the blade in time with his energy blades, but instead of the sword being melted away by the plasma, it held their as if it too were formed of plasma.

"What the-" Jack managed before the sword went after him next. Miranda was buffeted aside and fell onto Julia and both went sprawling. Jack and the Hayabusa duelled it out, Jack was struggling under the superior skills of the Hayabusa. Jack finally managed a counter, but the Hayabusa used the opportunity to sweep Jack's legs out from under him. The sword plunged towards Jack's helmet, when Jack suddenly cried out, "Uncle!"

The sword stopped in mid-air, the Hayabusa knelt down and roughly pulled off Jack's helmet, revealing his dishevelled face. At this, the Hayabusa dropped its sword and backed off. Jack got back up and stared at the visor of the Hayabusa.

"It _is_ you! But how?" cried Jack

The Hayabusa removed its helmet, confirming Alistair's identity.

Tears came to Jack's eyes, "Why are you working with the enemy? How could you do this to your brothers, to me?"

"Jack, you wouldn't understand. I-"

"I don't want to hear excuses! You made us think you were dead! Now I almost wish you were! Why!?"

During this, Miranda and Julia had recovered and were watching with rapt interest.

"I did it for your future."

"What do you mean?! We won the fucking war, why did you just leave us like that? I always thought you would die before betraying us to anyone. You always told your students that a man could be judged by his honour to his ideals, does the Brotherhood mean nothing to you?"

"Jack!" yelled Alistair, and Jack fell silent "I had no choice, I only did it because we were losing. The only reason we won the war was because of the Spartans, because of our enemy's innovation. We had nothing to contribute, nothing. If we hadn't been siphoning their supplies, they might just have won without the Spartans-"

"The Spartans were initially designed to eradicate the Assassins and the Insurrection once and for all!" interrupted Jack

"What?" said Alistair, a look of disbelief on his face

"You didn't know? Of course, why would they tell you? The Spartans were meant to get rid of the last vestiges of resistance. It was the Templar's game changer. If the Covenant hadn't come along and taken their attention away from us, we'd all be dead right now."

"You're lying," began Alistair

"Am I? Really? It's too coincidental to be anything else; that humanity just manages to squeeze out fully-functioning super-soldiers just when it needs them? Halsey was a Templar who wanted nothing more than to see us all destroyed. If they've managed to turn people like you to their side, then they may not have even needed Spartans."

"Jack, I-"

"Enough, as much as it pains me to say this, but Alistair Jiles, you are guilty of betraying the Assassin Brotherhood and you must die, so that the rest of us may live."

Jack fired two shots with his gauntlets at Alistair, but he had already anticipated the attack and spun sideways to slip past Miranda, but not Julia, who attempted once again to stop him. She succeeded in tripping him, but instead he did a handspring and continued onwards. Alistair ran as fast as he could towards a Pelican that had arrived at the edge of the building site, its bay door already open. The three Archons gave chase, firing after him. The other marines inside the Pelican provided cover fire, and Miranda and Julia hid behind cover, but Jack was full of anger and regret, and he payed no attention to the bullets whizzing past him. He fired bolt after bolt, until there was no more arrows, then he pulled his pistols out and fired in two small arcs, turning towards the man who had raised him, who had taught him how to be what he was now. He had him in his sights, and fired. Alistair was hit in the back of his neck, and stumbled forward into the Pelican, already bleeding badly. Another marine laid down suppressing fire, but Jack had stopped moving, he was just standing there, breathing heavily, the blood pounding in his ears. He could faintly hear Miranda's voice over the din of the gunfire, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. Then, Jack was snapped back into reality as a bullet hit him in the forehead and he fell heavily to the ground. His vision went to a darkened landscape, and he could see a massive red shape ascend into the sky, while two blue figures looked over him, then his vision went completely black.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

Jack awoke back in a medical bay. His head hurt badly, and his memory was a little foggy. He looked around but found no-one else in the room. He carefully rose off of the bed, suddenly noticing a note left on the table. He picked it up and it read: "Jack, when you wake up, meet me in my cabin, I'll tell you what happened after you were shot. Julia."

Jack called out to the ship's AI, "Is Julia Stroud currently in her cabin?"

"Yes, she is waiting for you on deck three. That note was left there only a few hours prior." Replied the AI, not bothering to manifest itself in a visible form

Jack left the medical bay and headed for Julia's cabin, then realised he didn't even know where it was, since she never invited him there. He was about to ask the ship's AI to guide him, but then he remembered what happened as he was shot. It was so vivid that he couldn't forget it, it looked like the ability his ancestors shared, called eagle vision. He had experienced it several times during animus sessions but he had always dismissed it as a guidance program, not actually part of the memories. He stood still and concentrated, using all of his senses, expanding his field of detection, then, with a rush, it worked. He could see each of the other crewmembers who passed him as blue, and a golden trail was on the ground. He followed it to Julia's cabin, the door marked out in a gold glow.

She was there waiting for him. She was facing away from him and didn't turn when he entered, and he let go of the eagle vision, as it turned the rest of his vision very dark and it was hard to see.

"You said you would let me know what happened afterwards?" said Jack, breaking the silence

"Yes, I did." Julia turned around to face Jack

"We saw you get shot just as their Pelican was taking off, we rushed you back here, but you were lucky; they hit you in the forehead, and that's one thick head you have."

Jack frowned at the ease of her insult but didn't say anything, and Julia continued

"The doctors patched you up, checked you out for trauma but you're all clear. Just a couple of days of rest and you'd be fine they said."

Jack was satisfied with her story but not her reason, "Why are you helping me like this?"

"It's no skin off my nose, and if you were incapacitated, Ben would be leading the Archons instead, and he's even more annoying than you. Simple actually."

"Yeah, that I believe. Thanks Julia." Jack walked out the door and back to his own cabin to await their arrival at Vesuvius.

Jack had filed his report by artificial sundown. The governor was unhappy with the result, but at least he was relieved that all three Archons had made it out alive, especially after Jack told him that he'd been shot, but he was deeply shaken to learn that Alistair had defected to the Templars. Jiles ordered him to relax for a few days, just to be sure and put Ben in charge of forward operations until after he'd rested. In the meantime, he set about finding Jill, who'd asked him to help her train when he returned.

"So, how was the trip? Was the Apple really there?" asked Jill once they'd begun warming up with stretches

Jack frowned as he replied, "No, it was a trap. We took care of them, but Alistair was with them, and he escaped."

Jill stopped suddenly, shocked

"Are you saying that your uncle really is on their side now?"

"Yes, he is." Jack sighed heavily

"If he would betray us like that, what other ways could he?"

"Well, we're safe for now. There's no possible way that he could know about any of this. The most he could know about is project: Prometheus."

They finished stretching and moved on to basic patterns as a warmup.

"Do you think he was responsible for the leak of the Ascendance project?" asked Jill

"It's possible, he would have had access to our communications lines, but we scrambled them since, so he can't get back into our feeds. Doesn't matter, let's just focus on your training."

That night, as Jack and Jill lay together in bed, Jack wondered about Jill's words earlier that day; could Alistair break their ciphers again? How could they defend themselves from a former ally? It was unnerving in the extreme. Jill made a noise next to him and shifted in here sleep. Jack forced himself to relax, as his forehead began to hurt again and went to sleep.

Alistair sat at the monitoring station, trying to tap into the communications lines of his former allies. He was supposed to be trying to find a way into the lines after they had scrambled them yet again; the tipoff of the Apple's location was supposed to bring up extra chatter to make it easier. In reality he was searching for any word on Jack and if he'd survived the shot to his head. If anyone asked, he would say that he was trying to gauge the number of active Archons, but he was worried that Jack had died. He had to know; otherwise he would feel guilty about it for who knows how long. The operator next to him was sipping a coffee and remarking about the taste, saying something about how watery it tasted compared to the café down the road from the Templar building, but Alistair wasn't listening. He was lost in thought about what this betrayal had cost him, and if they outweighed the benefits, which now seemed moot. He rubbed the back of his neck, still painful after Jack shot him, which only made the pain that much worse. Fortunately, Jack had been so rage-blind he could barely shoot straight and he missed the spinal cord.

"Jiles, Balenka has something she needs to talk to you about. She wants you in her office." said Justine, her holographic figure representing itself on the table next to him. She was presented as a woman with her hair in a tight bun wearing glasses and a no-nonsense look on her face.

"I'll be right up. Give me a second to finish up here."

Justine gave a curt nod and dissipated. Jiles set a routine to scan for related channels and went up to B alenka's office. She was expecting him and got straight to the point when he entered the room.

"Jiles, we have a… unique opportunity ahead of us. ONI has seen fit to give us temporary custody of Doctor Catherine Halsey."

"What exactly does this mean for us?" asked Alistair

"It means that we have access to one of the most brilliant minds of our time. She was the mind behind the Mjiolnir armour and the SPARTAN program."

Alistair's face remained an impassive mask; he was unsure of how to respond, "Why are you telling me this information?"

"Because I believe she may hold the solution to our Archon problem."

"Tell me about the children."

Halsey looked away from Alistair, refusing to meet his gaze, so he rose in his seat and leant on the table

"Doctor Halsey?"

She finally turned her head towards him

"You already know everything."

"You kidnapped them." Said Alistair, using his hands to gesture the main points of his argument

"Children's minds are more easily accepting of indoctrination. Their bodies more adaptable to augmentation. The result, was the ultimate soldier. And because of our success, when the Covenant invaded, we were ready." Replied Halsey, her tone was like she was selling the idea to the public

Alistair could sense that she was going to avoid giving him any answers he wanted, so he decided to play a gambit,

"Doctor Halsey, you're bending history to your own favour and you know it. You developed the Spartans to crush human rebellion, not to fight the Covenant." Alistair stood up from his chair to stare blankly into a corner, while Halsey continued behind him

"When one human world after another fell… When my Spartans were all that stood between humanity and extinction… nobody was concerned about why they were originally built." Her voice sounded somewhat shaky.

_"__So it was true." _Thought Jiles

"So you feel that, in the end, your choices were justified."

Halsey leant forward in her chair and spoke solemnly to Alistair, who had turned back to face her

"My work saved the human race." She stated simply

"Do you think the Spartan's lack of basic humanity helped?"

Halsey looked at Alistair sideways as he walked alongside the table "What are you after? The others before you were Naval Intelligence, but you… You're something else."

Halsey was beginning to sound almost frightened, Alistair smiled inwardly and pressed his attack

"Records show Spartans routinely exhibited mildly sociopathic tendencies: difficulty with socialisation-"

"The records show efficient behaviour operating in hazardous situations." Interrupted Halsey before Alistair could continue. Obviously Halsey was as bad as they said; she had little sense of humanity, and guilt was not something that could be used to bend her. She continued,

"I supplied the tools to maintain that efficiency."

Alistair was beginning to feel frustrated at this woman's ability to divert his interrogation so easily,

"Do you believe the Master Chief succeeded because he was, at his core, broken?" said Alistair, leaning on the table, gesturing again

Halsey narrowed her eyes slightly, "What does John have to do with this?"

Alistair didn't respond; no doubt she would be smart enough to figure it out without him saying anything.

"You want to replace him." She stated, proving Alistair right. No point avoiding the subject, he thought.

"The Master Chief is dead."

"His file reads Missing in Action." Rebutted Halsey

"Catherine? Spartans never die?" said Alistair

"Your mistake is seeing Spartans as military hardware. My Spartans are humanity's next step. Our destiny as a species." Alistair was about to wave his hand at the nonsense she was spouting, but Halsey stood up to drive her point home, "Do not underestimate them. But most of all… Do not underestimate him."


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Jiles threw down the paperwork with a sigh; the Venezian "government," such as it was, had taken full control of the planetary defence weapons. They had fired the T-38 cannon at a UNSC destroyer, but were unsuccessful at destroying it, and as a result, the T-38 was destroyed during a counterattack. The Assassins, who were responsible for the upkeep of the cannon, were tasked with fixing or replacing the cannon. It had been almost a year, and still there was very little they could do about it. There had been a minor incident with a UNSC strike team, but the Assassins had kept largely to themselves, not wanting to reveal their location.

"The damn thing's been reduced to rubble, how are we supposed to fix it?" said Jiles under his breath

He put the papers aside and took a sip of his favourite scotch, but it did nothing to assuage his frustration.

"Governor, a message from Vesuvius is waiting for you, It's from your nephew." said his secretary, a wiry man named Matthew, who had a knack for organising and a habit of making unnecessary comments.

"If I were you, I'd answer it."

"Thank you Matthew, I'll be there in a minute." Jiles pushed back from his desk and went to the communications room down the hall, performing a simple breathing exercise on the way there. The base was quiet; it always was at this time of the evening. Jiles liked it; it gave him time to think. He booted up the transmitter and watched the message Jack left him. It detailed the mission to Chi Ceti IV. As he left the room, the message being conveyed through a series of buoys through space to Vesuvius, he bumped into Matthew.

"Sir, you look distracted. Is something wrong? Was it the message?"

"No, I was just thinking of Staffan Sentzke. He nearly glassed Earth with that _CCS_ battlecruiser, and he didn't even talk to us before wasting such a valuable piece of technology!"

"I may remind you sir, that we did acquire an entire Covenant fleet in perfect condition."

"That as may be, the man was still a fool for doing something that risky."

"Actually sir, I heard from his men that he meant to find the truth about his daughter, he thought that she was taken, or something."

"I thought his daughter died of a genetic disease?"

"That's what the records say sir."

Jiles thought about it for a second, but let it go; it wasn't any of his business.

"Carry on Matthew."

"Sir." Matthew bowed and continued past him

Jiles walked back to his office and contemplated on Staffan's "demise," he had actually faked his death and was currently MIA. Another suitable leader for the local Insurrectionist forces would have to be found, and soon. Otherwise they would fall into chaos and the Assassins would be stuck without their meat shield. Of course, there was always the option of absorbing them all into the brotherhood, giving them many new members and resources.

"Just a little bit longer, and we won't even need them anymore. Just a little bit longer…"

Jack stretched his arms wide as he woke up. The sunlight shone through the window. Jill stirred next to him, slowly rising out of bed and walking over to where her clothes lay on a rack in the corner. Jack dressed himself and went to the kitchen and prepared a meal. Jill came to the kitchen too, in jeans and a top, brushing her hair down. Jack poured himself a cup of coffee and stared out the window, watching the bustling metropolis awake. He turned back, but it wasn't Jill he saw there; it was a taller woman with a swollen belly that inferred pregnancy. Her hair was auburn and went past her shoulders. Jack opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly the world collapsed on itself and he jerked upright in bed.

"Just a dream," he told himself, but it felt so real. He could even name the woman he saw, and the unborn child, even though he never met either of them.

"I think I need help." He decided. He checked the clock on the wall, the digital display read 0352. Jack shook his head and tried to go back to sleep, but the vividness of the dream shook him.

Jack spoke to one of the medical staff on the base early that day. She was unsure of what he should do, but she suggested a session with a psychiatrist. Jack commented that that would be hard, as they were still lacking a psychiatrist for the base and were waiting for one to be sufficiently cleared for security. He gave up on the idea and returned to the training field to warm up a little. It was simulated winter on the shield world's interior surface, and Vulcan refused to change the weather just to please the human inhabitants.

"There are other lifeforms on this world besides yourselves. Besides, your ancestors had little trouble dealing with colder weather." Was the response he gave

Other members of the colony began to trickle into the facility, obviously with the same intentions as Jack. Many broke into pairs or threes and began sparring or stretching. Jack went and joined Miranda and Hank who had come in together talking loudly and laughing. Hank had just finished a story by the sound of it.

"And that's when I said, 'Hey, I just work here. I don't give a damn about what's going on here.' And then I blew the charges and escaped before they could stop me."

"Oh yeah? Well I once caused a frigate to crash."

"How'd you manage that?" asked Jack as he approached

Hank responded with a warm greeting, much needed on such a cold morning. Miranda smiled at him and waved.

"As I was sayin', I went up to the bridge, tossed them a flashbang and the whole thing went down in flames. I jacked an escape pod and bolted and they never knew what hit them."

"Didn't the ship have an AI to steer them back on course?" asked Hank

"Nah, I'd disabled it. Noisy thing almost stopped me but I shut that bitch up."

"Shall we spar m'lady?"asked Hank, bowing like a renaissance nobleman at Miranda, who slapped him on the shoulder as he laughed

"Asshole," she said as she walked past him to pick up a weapon from the rack.

"What was that about?" asked Jack, clearly puzzled

"Just an inside joke, nothing you need to know Jack."

Jack nodded and picked up two blunted daggers while Hank just limbered up, shaking out his sleepiness; he only needed his bear-like hands and bulk to overpower most opponents.

"You're first big man." Said Miranda as she spun her baton around her hand deftly.

Jack sat and watched the two fight for a few rounds. He had reach, but she had flexibility. He was able to grab her occasionally and throw her down but she always managed to escape at the last second and let a counterattack get through his defences. Eventually he got her in a headlock and made to flip her backwards but his hand went over her chest and he got a look on his face like a boy who was caught with his hand in a cookie jar. Miranda used his falter to unbalance him and straddle him with her baton over his head like a club: she had won.

"Alright, you win." Miranda helped Hank up and sent him to sit down and Jack got up and took his place.

"Just 'cause you the team leader, don't think I'll go easy on you." She said, twirling her baton.

"That's fine, I would expect you to." Replied Jack, adjusting his grip on the daggers. They were rounded, with no special features to speak of and had small guards.

The two circled each other, making minor feints at each other for almost a full minute. Hank got bored quickly and started egging the two on to fight.

"Come on Miranda, get him already!"

She obliged Hank's request, lunging forward with a backhand swipe which Jack carved out of the air with a dagger and brought the other around for a swipe at her head. She bent backwards, twisting Jack and she easily swept him. Jack fell, but sprung off one hand to spin sideways in the air and delivered a powerful spinning kick to Miranda's solar plexus. She stumbled back while Jack regained his footing, this time taking a low stance with the daggers closer to him for guarding.

"That, hurt, Jack." She panted but recovered quickly. She spun like whirling dervish, bringing the baton around to knock one of Jack's daggers out of his hand with its force and kicking his thigh with the kick that followed. Jack was surely bruised but he had no time to recover as she used her other two limbs to strike at Jack, but he caught the knifehand strike and pushed her off-balance, sending her tumbling down. Jack quickly followed her and put the other dagger to her throat.

"Do I win?" he asked

"Yeah, alright." Said Miranda. Jack helped her up but Hank declined fighting Jack, so they went to do some free-running drills on the mock-building inside the facility.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

"May the Father of Understanding guide us." Said Balenka as she placed the ceremonial sword on the table. "Welcome to our order Sebastian." Said Balenka, as she placed the Templar ring on his finger, symbolising his full acceptance into the knights Templar. Alistair watched with a strange feeling in his heart; it wasn't pride, that much he knew. So what was it? He had trained this boy from the brute that he was to become a lethal killer and tactical master. He would make a fine SPARTAN-IV, and Balenka agreed, especially since the Assassins were stepping up their game with their Ascendance program. What Jiles couldn't figure out was where they were getting the tech and materials from? Unless they had set up somewhere under their noses, which was unlikely, as Alistair could tell when Assassins were in an area, so they must have some kind of new resource location. But all the good places had been taken, and all their known locations had been mapped, so they must have found a new world to hide on.

"Master, I want to thank you. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you."

Alistair was wrenched from his musing by Sebastian's happy face.

"What? Oh, yes congratulations Sebastian. You have worked hard for this, and now I have something to give you."

Alistair handed him the datapad he had on the table next to him. Sebastian picked it up and read it.

"-To report to UNSC _Infinity _under the name Paul DeMarco- master," Sebastian lowered the pad and looked at Alistair with awe, "I'm going to be a Spartan?"

"Yes you are. And you'll be stationed on humanity's greatest asset, the UNSC _Infinity_."

"I- thank you master."

"Don't thank me, Sebastian, thank grandmaster Balenka. She wanted a person on the inside on _Infinity _and we couldn't pull enough strings with ONI on this one so we thought we'd try one of our old tactics, lying and infiltration."

"That's odd, isn't it? I thought we practically owned ONI."

"Not quite, I'm afraid, not quite."

Assassin John Milgrad was sloughing through encrypted channels when he hit upon something amazingly rare: an old term for an Apple of Eden being used repeatedly.

"Oh my god, this is- wait, it could be a trick. "

He continued to listen until he ascertained the signal's location. He pinpointed it to a shipping yard in the north Atlantic, on Earth.

"The governor's not going to like this one." He said to no-one in particular.

"Earth," asked Jiles

Milgrad nodded,

"On a ship."

"On route to New Phoenix, to be exact sir."

"I can't believe this even if I wanted to. I have had it up to here," Jiles indicated with a hand above his head, "with these goddamn Templar traps. This has got to be the most ridiculous bluff they have ever used."

"This is most likely a trap sir, we should ignore it." said Matthew

"That's what I thought too sir, but it seems that they are heavily guarding this shipment, even more so than the last ones. And I used your brother's backdoor channel to reverse-hack the signal; it checks out."

Matthew's mouth twitched slightly, but Jiles was unmoved.

"I still cannot permit this, if it really is as heavily guarded as you make it out to be, it is almost definitely a trap."

"Sir, at least think about sending a scout, we could use some indication about what it really is. If it is a trap, they pull out. Otherwise, they call for backup and we swoop in to attack."

"You don't get it Milgrad. We can't afford to send in a scouting party. Even if we were able to get a team into Earth, we would have no way to communicate with them."

"I thought we had Insurrectionist contacts among the refugees on Earth."

"We did, but we have broken away from the Insurrection. We are now operating on our own, like we used to when we had power. You may as well spread the word, it's going to be common knowledge tomorrow morning." Jiles sighed, "Alright, I'll contact my operatives. Thank you Milgrad. You may go." Milgrad bowed and left

"Sir, I would advise against this course of action."

"If we are going to return to our former glory, we have to take the Templars by storm. We need the Apple, and we need it now. With _Infinity _in the skies, we have to form a powerful offense."

"Then why not use the weapon designs we stole from Misriah?"

"Even if we had the correct materials, we don't have the manpower to do something like that. Matthew, get my nephew on the line please."

"Yes sir."

Matthew walked out the door stiffer than he'd walked in. As Jiles watched him go, he creased his brow in confusion. _Matthew wasn't privy to information regarding the Misriah assault, how could have known about it?_

Jiles shook the thought from his head and went rose from his desk to the communications room.

"Jack, your uncle's calling you from Venezia. It's urgent." Said Ezio in Jack's helmet. Jack looked up from the schematics and excused himself from the demonstration of the new hybrid human-Covenant computer systems and jogged to the communications relay. He keyed the activation sequence and his uncle's image appeared in the holographic display projector.

"Jack, you're not going to like this-"

"Did you lose the fleet?"

"No-"

"Did you lose Venezia?"

"No, although we did separate from the Insurrectionists."

"How many people know?"

"It's not public yet, but for all intents and purposes we have. We'll have to recruit those members of your team that they need to join us or die for the information they hold."

"Isn't that a little extreme?"

"It is the only way. We can't risk defects at such a critical time."

"Why, what's happening?"

"We got another hit on the Apple, and it looks like the real deal this time."

"How do you know?"

"Security's very real and everything else adds up. The catch is that it's in New Phoenix, Earth."

"Of course it is." Said Jack, voice filled with sarcasm and surrender

"We'll be taking this in two parts; one team will infiltrate New Phoenix and scout the location to check if it's real. If it isn't they pull out. If it's real, team two moves in for extraction; that's you and Ben. We need stealth and cunning if we're going to come out of the lion's den."

"Understood. Who's in team one?"

"Jill and Zhang. We need Jill's familiarity with Templar security and Zhang's sharp eyes. We can't afford to screw this up, and over the years, you all have proven the best of our Brotherhood."

"What about Julia?"

"I'm not completely blind to inter-team relations, Julia hates Ben, and he's more useful to us then she is in this case."

"Alright. When do I leave?"

"As soon as possible. Gear up for a tough infiltration, we have no idea what they have in there. Any upgrades your engineers have come up with, take them if they work."

"I was just looking at their products before you called me. If that's all I'll get back to it. I'll let Jill and Ben know."

"Jill already knows, she's going with Zhang now, undercover as husband and wife. Refugees from Rio de Janeiro." Jack felt a pang of jealousy but quickly stifled it.

"Thank you uncle. I'll get on this as soon as possible."

"May our ancestors watch over us." Said Jiles

"And always light our path." Finished Jack

Jiles cut the communication line while Jack contemplated his last words. It was a prayer from ancient times, and his uncle was never a religious man. He must be desperate.

Jack went back to the demonstrations.

"Ah, mister Jiles, you're back. Now, as I was saying, this unit allows for better power usage over long periods of time by seven percent."

"Does it work?"

"Yes, very well. Once we had a basic understanding of Forerunner technology it was-"

"Install it."

"Pardon?"

"I need everything you have that can give me an edge. I'm storming a Templar base on Earth. I need everything you've got. Weapons, armour, vehicles, everything."

"Um, OK then, follow me and I'll take you to see all of what we have."

Jack followed the man to a workshop filled with bits and pieces, including several half-finished ARCHON armour sets.

He described each completed project briefly, and in addition to several small upgrades, Jack, and Ben when he heard, both received improved shields, faster repair capabilities of the armour, a hyper-machine gun SAW for Ben, a pair of improved, but not silenced, pistols for Jack, better joint movement systems including amplifications for muscle strength and speed, extremely resilient M-Spec re-entry packs for orbital drops, holographic deployment systems for distractions, and an emergency armour lockup backup; in cases of extreme danger, the suit's AI could override the suit's servos and generate a protective field which shielded the wearer from most extreme forms of damage. Jack and Ben thanked the engineers for the equipment, who all applauded them as they left.

"We have a lot of expectations to meet with this stuff." Said Ben, looking solemn

"You worried?" asked Jack

Ben looked up at him and smiled

"Hardly, now it gets fun."


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

Jill and Zhang had been on Earth for two weeks now, and the operation had gone smoothly. They met the informant who let them through the tether security under the guise of workers and proceeded to New Phoenix undeterred. Once or twice a Templar spy would recognise them but Zhang's sharp eyes saw them first, and they were incapacitated before they could report back, leaving Jill and Zhang to progress. Now, after fourteen gruelling days of subterfuge, trickery, hacking and stealth they now stood at the front door of the Templar stronghold. It was late afternoon and the street was still bustling with activity.

"You ready?" asked Zhang

"Yep, let's go." Replied Jill

They entered the building through the front doors, which parted automatically to allow them access. A receptionist was chatting to a man leaning over her desk holding a bundle of files. They were unnoticed as of then, and Zhang took the opportunity to scan their surroundings.

"See over there?" whispered Zhang, indicating the upper corners of the room. Jill looked, and could make out small indents in the high grey ceiling.

"Most likely cameras. You take them out with your glove, I'll take those two."

Jill nodded and made her way to the wall, charging her plasma glove and making two small plasma balls and releasing them at the two cameras at the same time as Zhang fired his two particle beams, killing the two people at the desk. Jill ran around to disengage the security measures while Zhang secured the exits.

"Just a minute, done. Elevator's open." Said Jill

"Let's go, before they come and find these two."

Jill smiled wickedly, "I have an idea where we can put them."

After a few minutes, the bodies were both stashed in a janitor's closet in a suggestive position.

Zhang looked at Jill disbelievingly, "You have some kind of evil mind Jill, I'm almost worried about Jack."

Jill looked at him sideways and raised an eyebrow, "If you're worried, then you must not be the same Zhang Ho I've heard of."

Zhang flushed slightly, "Ah, whatever." He said dismissively, "Let's make sure your boyfriend isn't waiting."

The two of them made it into the elevator without incident and Jill set up her equipment and overrode the controls, giving them access to almost any floor in the building, except for floors 45 to 50.

"Huh, that's weird." Said Jill as she found the lockout.

"What is it?" asked Zhang

"Nothing to worry about, it's not our floor. This one is." Jill pushed a button and the elevator rocketed up the shaft, popping both their ears as it did.

"Almost like a tether," commented Jill

Zhang nodded, "Just smaller, and with worse company."

Jill glared at him and kicked him in the leg. Zhang laughed with pain and rubbed his shin.

They reached the rooftop, the exit was guarded by two marines who were facing the other way, but they turned at the 'bing' noise the elevator made as it arrived. They brought their guns up at the door.

"Halt, come no closer." Said one

"Put your hands behind your head and come out slowly." Said the other

Jill left the elevator after a pause with her hands behind her head as instructed. The two guards stared at her suspiciously,

"Why didn't you follow protocol?"

"I didn't know the protocol, does it matter?"

The guards looked at each other incredulous, who was this woman? Obviously an intruder. As they moved to take her into custody, she activated her implanted hidden blades and stabbed one of them while shouting "Zhang!"

Zhang stepped out of the elevator and fired a stream of ionised hydrogen at the other guard's head, killing him.

"I think we're good here. Let's get the boys in." said Jill as she stepped outside onto the executive landing pad. She placed a small device on the centre of the pad and stepped back under the cover of the exit hallway.

"Zhang, remember that old song by the Weather Girls?"

"Uh, you mean 'sIt's raining men'?"

Jill looked up and smiled, shading her eyes from the sun.

"Hallelujah." She said

A small red dot blipped on the console of the Shiv's cockpit, signalling the drop point was clear.

"Drop point has been reached. Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure but now it's time for me to drop you off." Said Cassandra

Jack and Ben looked up from their conversation and both nodded in confirmation.

"Jack, I believe you said you wanted to go first?" said Ben as he strapped his helmet over his fair hair. Ben was tall, even by augmented human standards, with a square jaw, brown eyes and messy hair that he kept tied in a rat's tail. Jack strapped his own helmet over his somewhat darker and tidier hair and sealed his suit for zero-atmosphere. The bomb bay had been evacuated of its usual artillery and now it had two heavily-armoured and armed super-soldiers in place of its payload.

"Ready Ben?" asked Jack

"Ready." Replied Ben, giving Jack a thumbs-up

"Alright Cassandra, how's the weather?"

"Relatively clear, with wind speeds at roughly 100 metres per seconds at high altitude. You have a clear drop; no sky traffic is due for another half hour. Remember, only hit your packs when your AI tells you, otherwise you could end up in the Caribbean."

"Alright, we got it. Let us down." Said Jack

"Releasing payloads in three, two, one, mark." was the last thing that Jack heard before the world around him went quiet. He looked up and saw clouds rushing up to meet him, faster and faster. He smashed through them collecting condensation on his helmet as he went, his arms were stuck to his sides and his teeth chattered slightly as crosswinds buffeted him. His motion tracker indicated Ben following him out a moment later. His altimeter dropped rapidly, until he was out of the clouds and staring at the bustling metropolis ahead of him. He shifted his body until it rotated so his body was now parallel to the ground, arms and legs spread out to maximise drag while his armour locked up around his joints to keep them from being wrenched out of their sockets. His shields flickered as the air rushed past it at ridiculously high speeds but they managed to hold against the onslaught.

"Isn't this great Ben?" said Jack over the radio

"Yeah, just great. I can feel my lunch coming up to say just how great it is." replied Ben, sounding somewhat queasy.

Jack steered himself towards the drop point; with Ezio calculating his speed and trajectory and his experience he was confident he would make it there safely.

"Jack, activate your re-entry pack in three, two, one, mark." Said Ezio, and Jack obliged, rolling backwards once more and activating his re-entry pack to slow his descent. The building that he was supposed to land on came up to meet him faster than he'd like, but the deceleration from the re-entry pack slowed him down enough to hit the rooftop with a solid thud, his armour locking up as soon as it hit the ground, cushioning his fall somewhat so that he only took minor damage. He stood up dramatically, feeling great, while Ben followed behind him a few moments later. His landing was somewhat less graceful but he was still in one piece as he came up alongside him. Jill and Zhang came out to meet them, each smiling like idiots.

"That was amazing! I've never anything like that before, not even in those 2150's action movies." Exclaimed Zhang

Ben crawled to his feet behind Jack, dazed but unhurt.

"Remind me never to get thrown out of a spaceship again."

"Duly noted." Replied Jack

"We should get inside. They're probably wondering where the people who aren't at their posts went." Said Jill

The four of them squeezed back into the elevator and just before Jill pushed the button, the elevator descended with a bone-jarring shudder straight down.

"Jill? Is it supposed to be going this fast?" asked Jack

"I don't think so!"

"Oh shit!" exclaimed Zhang

Jack looked up and quickly cut his way through the roof of the elevator, jumping up and out. He glanced at the walls rushing past and knew that something had gone wrong.

"Guys, get out now!" he called down.

Jill and Zhang clambered out with the assistance of Ben, who followed their example. It was too dangerous to grab the walls as they rushed past, and the elevator ran without cables.

"What now?" asked Zhang

Ben flicked out his energy blades and motioned for Jill to grab onto him.

"Follow my lead." He said

Jack flicked his blades on and Zhang climbed onto his armour. Ben jumped with all his strength and sunk his blades deep into the walls of the elevator shaft. Jack did the same, his fall slowed down just as the elevator slammed into the bottom of the shaft with a resounding crash that rang in Jack's ears. Ben jumped down and Jill got off of his back. Jack and Zhang did the same.

"Good thinking Ben, how'd you know that would work?"

Ben shrugged modestly before replying, "I didn't, but I knew we would have survived any other way so I took a leap of faith."

"Uh-huh, how about we get out of here." Said Jack, not waiting for a reply


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

Alistair heard the shuddering crash as it reverberated through the building.

"What was that?" asked one of his guards unhelpfully

"I don't know, but it sounded like it came from the elevator shaft over there." Said another, as she motioned towards the elevator

"Go check it out; we don't have time to mess this up. We're behind schedule as it is. Those distractions at Nevada were more than we allowed for." Said Alistair

The two guards went over to the elevator and one tapped the black screen next to it.

"Hello, I am the Templar Integrated Reconnaissance Executable Strategy Alpha. You may call me T.I.R.E.S.A."

"T.I.R.E.S.A., open the doors to the elevator shaft. We need to see what happened."

"I am sorry, but my current safety protocols dictate that-"

"Just do it T.I.R.E.S.A." said Alistair

"I am sorry, but your security clearance level is not sufficient to override my current safety protocols."

Alistair frowned, "T.I.R.E.S.A.," he began

"If you would like to know why I sent the elevator down the shaft, you just need to ask."

"Fine, what happened?" said Alistair, slowly losing his patience with the "dumb" AI, Alistair had never liked AIs of any kind.

"I detected an attempted intrusion from the rooftop, which was followed by a hardware assault on the elevator controls. As this was coupled with guards not at their posts and a heavier-than-normal weight within the elevator, I activated intrusion protocol zeta."

"And intrusion protocol zeta is?" asked Alistair

"Why, it is simply dropping the elevator straight down the shaft. There is no feasible way they could have escaped as intrusion protocol zeta also locks the elevator's doors on all levels, so it is highly unlikely they would have survived." Finished T.I.R.E.S.A. happily

"All the same, I would prefer to check this." Said Alistair

"Intrusion protocol zeta has a 95 percent effectiveness rate. Only one case has survived, and that was because the protocol was still in its testing stage."

"Can you be sure they're dead?" asked one of the guards

"Unfortunately not, my sensors have been damaged by the elevator's impact and the doors on the second level have suffered an electrical failure."

"Does that normally happen?" asked Alistair, still unimpressed

"No, normally the bottom of the shaft is protected against the impact, this is highly unusual. I have dispatched a maintenance team to assess the situation. They should be arriving now."

"Jack, I got movement on my radar." Said Ben, pulling his SAW from his back

"Jill, get behind me. Zhang, take point. Ben, cover him." Whispered Jack as he drew his two pistols

"Jack, I believe there is an AI in the building; their response was too quick to be human." Said Ezio in Jack's ear

"You sure?"

"_Si, _I am sure."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"Deal with the enemy at hand first, I will attempt to get into the system remotely, but I may need direct access."

"Guys, Ezio says that there may be an AI in the building, so we should expect them to be ready at any turn."

"So business as normal yeah?" commented Zhang

"I guess so, although we did know the odds would be stacked against us-" began Jack

"Incoming!" hissed Ben

Four individuals turned the corner, and Jack and the rest gunned them down. They fell quietly and wordlessly from the shock.

Once their bodies fell to the floor, Zhang looked at them aghast,

"They weren't soldiers, just workers." He said, clearly upset

"Zhang, we don't have time to worry about who gets hurt here. Let's be grateful they didn't send a team." Said Jill

"Jack, I cannot access the building's systems remotely. Plug me into that console by the elevator." Said Ezio and Jack willingly obliged. Jack interacted with the screen, which showed a rotating Templar cross as a screensaver. It was replaced by the image of the building's blueprints.

"There is another AI here, but she is not able to detect my presence. I have caused electrical failures on the route you should take to get to where they are holding the Apple. According to this, they made a special container for it that would lock it down permanently if it was broken, so we will have to find the proper way to open it."

"Any more information on it?" asked Jill

"No, only that it was constructed using Forerunner technology and is deemed Pandora's Box."

"That's great, but shouldn't we be moving right now?" asked Ben, already making his way down the darkened hallway, the other three followed, and Ezio progressed through the system with the same stealth he possessed when he was a man.

"Warning, multiple power failures detected on levels two, four, five, six, eight…" said T.I.R.E.S.A.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Alistair

"Sir, I think we had better move." Said one of the guards

"No kidding. Let's just go." He replied, and put his Hayabusa helmet on. It sealed with a hiss of air and T.I.R.E.S.A.'s warning continued in his ear.

"T.I.R.E.S.A., can you do anything about these electrical failure?" he asked through gritted teeth

"I am sorry, but the exact nature of these failures is unknown, as they have caused my sensors to fail."

"Well what do you think is causing them?" said a guard

"Something this broad and specific has a 76% chance of sabotage. I have attempted to contact teams to check for intruders but they are not responding."

"Are there any power failures on our route?" said Alistair

"No, however many of these failures lead towards the Vault, it is likely that if there are intruders, they would he going there and using the power failures as a cover."

Alistair considered it for a while,

"We need to get to the Vault as well, since that's where our transport is. I'll take a team and go on ahead to deal with the intruders. If there aren't any, well then good. Anderson, Molt, Thompson and Baxter, stay here and guard Pandora's Box. The rest of you with me, we have some uninvited guests to take care of."

Jack and his team made their ways up the stairways as quickly as they could. Ezio guided them away from patrolling guards as much as he could but occasionally they took advantage of the darkness and took out the group of guards stumbling around in the dark.

Alistair and his team also made their way forward, running through sparsely populated hallways to the Vault.

"T.I.R.E.S.A., has the Vault been opened yet?" asked Alistair, desperation showing in his voice

"No, the bulkheads are still sealed on all sides. Would you like me to have them open for when you arrive?"

"No, just standby."

They reached the large metal doors that heralded the Vault's entrance. Black and yellow stripes bordered it and T.I.R.E.S.A.'s image of two glowing Mobius strips in the shape of a cross appeared on the screen of the nearby access panel and the doors began to open as they approached. Alistair made sure the Vault was clear before sending his men in to take up defensive positions.

"Here we are, the Vault. Pandora's Box is going to be leaving here in approximately ten minutes." Said Ezio

"This would have gone so much easier if we had been able to take the elevator." Complained Zhang, whose legs were hurting after climbing nearly fifty flights of stairs, "I was built for lying in wait for my target, not running after them."

"Shut up Zhang, just make sure we have a clear access point." Said Ben, who had been tired of his complaints since the thirtieth floor

"Yes sir, right away sir." Said Zhang with a mock salute

"Ezio, can you get this door open?"

_"__SI, uno_ _momento."_ Replied Ezio

The doors began to open and lights on the ceiling began to flash. Zhang peered through the increasing gap. As he peered through, his eyes widened and he leapt to the side, yelling "Get back!"

The others responded quickly, and just in time; as the doors reached half-opened, a 90mm SBHV tungsten shell shot through and exploded on the floor.

"They have a fucking tank in there?!" exclaimed Jack

"Obviously!" replied Ben as another round cleared the doorway.

"Jack, I think you'd better handle this one!" said Zhang

"Fine, one minute. Zhang, cover me."

Zhang got into position with his sniper rifle that Jack had brought down with him. As the next tank round shot past, Jack engaged his cloak and slipped past, while Zhang poked his head around the door and got a quick scope of the situation. Machine gun fire followed him out from the tank and from behind barricades. As the bullets pounded the thick metal behind him, Zhang swore he would never follow Jack into a mission again. He quickly rolled away before the tank fired at the door also, denting the metal with the impact but not breaching it. Loud incomprehensible shouting followed and no more tank shots were fired.

"This is going to be just a barrel of fun." Ben muttered under his breath


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

Jack had gotten into cover behind some large crates at the far side of the room. On the other side, the entire wall was an enormous door. Jack could only guess as to where it led. He let his cloak recharge before progressing further. One by one, he picked off the isolated gunners quickly and quietly and Zhang had taken to trying to snipe some of them between tank shots; out of all of the soldiers there, only three were alone, and a Hayabusa Spartan could be seen overlooking the battle, shouting orders. Jack looked closer, that armour was-

_A katana sword crackling with lightning met plasma blades and cut through shields,_

_The helmet fell off to reveal Alistair's face, older but the same man without a doubt._

"Alistair." Jack finished angrily. Alistair was too far to hit from her with his crossbow effectively, since it was little use against energy shielding. His pistols had been modified for power, not range. He had no way to get to him from here. He glanced around the room, looking for any other way, but it was almost barren; the walls were smooth and well-lit, the crates too far apart to climb upon, it was a challenge that Jack decided he wouldn't risk here. He glanced behind him and noticed a machine hanging from the roof. It was angular and green, with some kind of hatch on the back.

"Ezio, what is that thing?" asked Jack

"According to their inventory records, that is a Mantis-class mech."

"Mantis? Why Mantis? Doesn't really look like an insect. The last mech they made was called a Cyclops and it- doesn't matter, can you get it down for me?"

"_Si_, here it comes."

The crane holding it up released it and it fell to the ground with a resounding thud as the hydraulics broke its fall. Jack made a break for it, not bothering to cloak, and the soldiers turned his way and groaned. He slid under the legs and scrambled up into the cockpit. He sat himself in the unfamiliar controls, wondering how to get it started. A tank round smashed into the Mantis' shields. He activated his Eagle vision and the start switch became apparent, glowing gold. He flicked it and the hatch closed shut behind him and the Mantis stood up straight, targeting sights came up and status bars for the heavy machine gun and five missile pods. Jack moved forwards in the Mantis and towards the enemy soldiers.

"Oh, this is going to be fun." Said Jack with a grin

He charged the missile pods and loosed them on the Scorpion tank. They flew out of the left launchers and pummelled the tank to pieces, just before the tank could fire at him again. Some of the soldiers began firing at Jack, a few ran away and Alistair, in his Hayabusa armour, ducked behind cover. The soldiers opened fire on him with the machine gun turrets and one fired a rocket at the cockpit. His energy shielding was failing and he took damage from the bullets but ducked under the rocket, rising again to unleash a hailstorm of bullets among the soldiers, slaying them left and right.

"Woohoo! Go Jack go!" cried Ben as he watched with Zhang and Jill, who had braved the interior of the Vault to take out more soldiers. Jack was careful not to hit them as he went about. He noticed his machine gun was about to overheat so he let it cool off before starting again. Before he could, the hatch opened behind him and a strong hand pulled him out and tossed him onto the floor. Jack hit the ground hard on his back, and looked up to see Alistair leaping down at him with his sword in an overhead plunge at Jack's chest. Jack rolled to the side as Alistair came down and pressed himself up onto his toes. Alistair abandoned his sword and pulled out an M6G and fired a full clip at Jack, who dodged and ducked the majority of the bullets. He ducked behind cover and responded in kind, blind-firing at and around Alistair's location, his pistols booming. He pulled out his crossbow and swung over the edge, ready to take the shot but Alistair was already on top of him and they went tumbling down together back over the barricade. Jack flicked out his blades but Alistair held his wrists down with a hand and knee and made to punch his head. Jack thought quickly and activated his bullet hood with at thought and jerked his head sideways, the metal covering extended into place as Alistair's fist came down on its sharp edge, cutting through underglove, skin and bone. Alistair hissed in pain and released Jack's right hand, which Jack used to throw Alistair off him and pin his neck under his arm. Jack tore off Alistair's helmet and looked him in the eye.

"WHY DID YOU DO IT?" yelled Jack

"To protect humanity!" croaked Alistair

"BULLSHIT! YOU BETRAYED YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR FAMILY, AND YOUR HONOUR! HUMANITY COULD FIGHT ITS OWN BATTLES; THEY DIDN'T NEED SOMEONE LIKE YOU, WHO WOULD THROW AWAY HIS LAST BIT OF GOODNESS JUST TO SURVIVE!

"Jack, my intentions were good, I stopped them from attacking Venezia-"

"YOU LEFT US!" Jack punched him in the face, "YOU MADE US THINK YOU WERE DEAD!" another punch, "AND NOW YOU CHOOSE TO DEFEND YOUR ACTIONS? YOU COULD HAVE HELPED US, INSTEAD YOU GAVE THE TEMPLARS EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED TO BRING US TO OUR KNEES. KILLING THE AXON GROUP? I KNOW THAT WAS YOU!" two more punches.

Jack knelt there, breathing heavily. Alistair made no reply except a light chuckle.

"Of course you knew," he whispered, "Of course you would figure it out. You were always clever, always figuring things out. I had hoped you would succeed me, but my legacy isn't worth inheriting now is it?"

Jack couldn't make a sound; his eyes were full of tears and his voice caught in his throat, so he shook his head sadly,

"It's OK, Jack. I fought for what I thought was right, so did you, and that's the most important thing a man can do in his life; standing up for his beliefs. Kill me now, so that I may live a full life."

Jack got his emotions under control, although there were still tears in his eyes.

"Tell me how to open Pandora's Box first."

Alistair smiled, "I suppose I owe you that much at least. Pandora's Box could only be opened by Pandora, and she was given to mankind by Zeus as the ultimate gift and punishment. Jack, the blood we share is our ultimate gift and punishment."

Jack lessened the weight on his uncle's neck in understanding, then flicked out an energy blade.

"Alistair Jiles, you have betrayed the Assassin Brotherhood, breaking the third tenet of our Creed. The punishment for this is death. As such, I carry out your sentence."

Jack plunged the blade through Alistair's heart. Alistair closed his eyes and laid his head back, dying peacefully with a smile of a man who had seen all he needed to see in his life.

The others caught up with him quickly, Ben reloaded his SAW with a fresh drum while Jill ran up to him and hugged him.

"Oh Jack, I'm so sorry." She said softly

Jack's face was iron, "Don't be. He died as he lived: fighting for what he believed in. Wherever he is, he's content." Jill leant back and looked at him strangely; Jack retracted his hood and pulled off his helmet. He ran his fingers through her short hair and pulled her head against his. Through that moment of contact, she seemed to understand. They stood up, and Jack made his way to the door, putting his helmet back on and engaging his hood. There, four armed guards stood around a large box, arguing about what to do now. Jack walked around the door and faced them down. One of them noticed him and brought his shotgun round to fire, Jack dashed forward and ducked under the 8-Gauge blast and thrust his energy blades into his abdomen, the force of the blow carrying the guard off his feet. Jack hurled him into the next one with all his might and they flew into the wall and slumped there dying from crushed spines. The other two squeezed off rounds from their MA5C assault rifles but Jack shrugged them off like rain and yanked the assault rifle from one of the guards, gunned him down and turned to face the other one. By now, Jack's shields had worn away and the guard was reloading as fast as his trembling hands would allow. Jack strode up to him calmly.

"Would you like to die with dignity or mercy?" asked Jack, his voice a predatory growl

"I ah, what-"

"Too late."

Jack gave the last guard a side kick that sent him flying back down the hall, sprawling on the floor. Jack picked up the fallen assault rifle and held it by the barrel shroud. He stepped on the guard's chest to stop him from getting away and brought the assault rifle over his head.

"Please?" said the guard feebly

"Fore." Said Jack humourlessly

Jack swung the rifle down to the side of the guard's head. His spine snapped with an almighty crack, and his neck tore half open. Jack tossed the useless weapon aside and continued to Pandora's Box. It was a large, relatively featureless rectangular container. On top was a screen that gave a view of the inside. Sure enough, the Apple resided there. Zhang Ben and Jill caught up with him at that point.

"Is this it? Did we do it?" asked Jill

Jack nodded, "We did it." he placed his hand over the screen, and watched as the Apple began to glow. He tore off the underglove of his hand and touched his bare hand to the screen. The Apple began to glow even brighter, lightning arcing out from it. The box began to shake, and then it opened. Jack bent over to pick it up, and as his fingers touched it, he saw flashes of images in his mind.

_Himself and the others walking out of the building with the Apple held high, guards killing themselves and any who tried to stop them_

_Eden's Blade flying through space_

_Vulcan laughing triumphantly_

_A large ship hovering in space above Earth, but it wasn't human or Covenant_

_An all-consuming orange beam casting its light over a city_


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

Jack held the Apple of Eden, for the first time in his life. He felt powerful, and confident. Behind him he heard the sound of a Pelican's engines preparing for landing in the Vault behind him. He ran back inside and saw that the wall that was made of an enormous door was in fact a hangar bay door.

"So that's how they were planning to get it out of the building." Said Ben

"Doesn't matter now though, does it?" said Jill with a smile

"I'll give them our regards." Said Jack. He strode up to the Pelican as it just hovered over the edge of the landing bay and held the Apple towards it. White and yellow lightning arced from it and went through the cockpit to hit the pilot, who convulsed violently and lost control of the Pelican, which listed off to the side and crashed into the wall, spinning around it hit the ground below with a loud crash followed by an explosion.

"Let's get out of here." Said Jack, "I'll grab Ezio. Ben, call for evac."

Ben nodded and began to call for Cassandra to come and pick them up

"Which way now Ezio?" asked Jack once he'd recovered the AI

"We could wait for Cassandra to pick us up here but-"

"Jack, Cassandra says she can't land anywhere nearby while their AA guns are still active." Said Ben

"-Is what I was going to tell you." finished Ezio

Zhang piped up and said, "Well, we could have taken that Pelican, but…" Zhang's voice trailed off as his head followed the rising column of smoke.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time OK?" protested Jack, "Fine. Let's go and ask them nicely to let us leave."

"Alarm, Apple of Eden is now in enemy hands, alarm, Apple of Eden is now in enemy hands. Please report to your designated emergency stations and wait for further instruction." Said T.I.R.E.S.A.

"What? Oh crap. T.I.R.E.S.A., where are they?" said the man at the security console

"Intruders have been detected at level thirteen."

"That's our level!" said someone else

The door opened behind them, and two Spartans and two normal people walked in. One Spartan held the Apple in his hand.

"Wait, what?" said one of the communications operators

The Spartan held the Apple above his head, and lightning arced out. The guards lost control and shot each other dead. The operators clutched their heads, while a voice spoke to them.

"Deactivate the anti-air defences, and do nothing to stop us leaving." Said the voice. The operators had no choice but to obey.

"Warning, anti-air defence grid is no offline." Said T.I.R.E.S.A. unnecessarily

"I think we can leave now guys." Said Jack. They walked back to the front of the building and took the elevator down. When they arrived at the lobby, NPPD officers were there to stop them. Jack raised the Apple again and simply walked out the door with the others while the policemen held their weapons to their chins and fired. Behind him he could make out T.I.R.E.S.A.'s automated voice saying, "Warning, unidentified spacecraft is in orbit directly above this facility."

Jack looked up, expecting to see Cassandra's Shiv coming for them. Instead, he could make out with his helmet's zoom a small black smudge with orange lines in the sky. The images he experienced earlier came flashing back; _a black ship floating above the Earth, not human or Covenant. An orange beam washing over a city, wiping it of life._

A feeling of dread came over him. He turned to tell the others and leapt towards them to get under cover. "GET DOWN!" he cried. Jill, who was right behind him, followed him under the building's overhang. Zhang and Ben took longer to respond, and by then it was too late.

High above New Phoenix, _Mantle's Approach _fired the Composer, turning all of its residents into pure data.

Jack watched the beam descend, fearing that even their cover might not save them. His senses became heightened and time slowed down for him. Zhang and Ben were attempting to get under cover, and Zhang might just make it. Ben leapt for Jack, who grabbed him and pulled him under, but Zhang was outlined in orange light descending from the sky. The Apple glowed a light-blue colour in Jack's hand but he didn't notice. The beam hit the ground and spread across the city, catching up to Zhang in a heartbeat. His skin was disintegrated, leaving an orange skeleton, before that too was taken. Jack knew they were doomed. He and Jill grabbed each other in an embrace.

"I love you, he whispered

"I love you," she whispered back

The orange wave washed over them, Jack and Jill had turned away from it and Ben shielded his eyes. The Composer had engulfed all of New Phoenix, turning all who stood against it into piles of ash and data.

After what felt like an eternity, Jack looked up from Jill's shoulder. The world was orange, like fire, streaking past them. Jill also looked up. They could see nothing but the energy racing past, the ground, and themselves plus Ben, who was also staring in wonder.

"Is this Heaven? 'Cause I was expecting a better view." He said

"It's probably Hell. We did kill a lot of people." Replied Jack

"If it is, Hell's a lot like the military," said Ben, picking up his SAW

"You're both wrong. Look!" said Jill, pointing at the Apple. It was pulsing a blue light, and lines followed it along the ground to the edges of the circle they stood in.

"Is that some kind of force field?" asked Ben

"I think so, the must've Apple saved us." Said Jack

"Well that's great, but how do we get out of here? Can we move with it?" said Jill

"Let's see." Jack moved the Apple left and right, watching the lines on the ground do the same.

"Looks like it. Take us home Jacky-boy." Said Ben happily

"Don't call me that." Said Jack

Ben looked at his feet, "Sorry." He said sheepishly

Jill laughed, and Ezio spoke up.

"Jack, I can direct you to where the beam isn't firing and we can leave."

"Then let's get the hell out of here."

"Oh shit, what about Zhang?" asked Ben

"I don't think he could have survived that; and I'm not reading his bioreader; he was probably disintegrated."

Ben nodded sadly and got to his feet. The three of them slowly trekked through the assault, hoping that the Apple could keep doing whatever it was doing long enough to get them to safety. After about twenty minutes, the wash of orange receded. Jack looked up at the sky, it was late, and he couldn't see the ship anymore, instead a burst of flame went off in the sky. Jack was afraid it was the Shiv but his fears were put to rest as Cassandra's voice came over the comms.

"AC-1, come in, this is AI Cassandra, do you read?"

"This is AC-1, I read you Cassandra, go ahead."

"Oh good, I was afraid I'd lost you. Do you have the Apple?"

"We do, but we lost Zhang when the beam hit." Said Jack with a sour taste in his mouth

Silence came for a second, "That's too bad. He didn't deserve that." said Cassandra sadly

"Does anyone? Please come pick us up. Sending coordinates now."

The Shiv descended on top of a nearby building and the three Assassins boarded and took off. Cassandra told them about what she observed while she watched the city being Composed.

"It matched the description of the ship Vulcan helped the Forerunner name the Ur-Didact build, but it seems unlikely that it could have been him piloting it."

"And that energy weapon?" asked Ben

"I don't know. I haven't seen anything like it before."

Jack hefted the Apple in his hand, "Well, we got what we came for and most of us survived. I can't say I'm completely happy with the outcome, but we all have to make sacrifices."

The Shiv navigated the remains of the Didact's ship, scavenging parts every now and then before the UNSC's scavenger teams found them. They passed an unusual piece of debris that Jack told them to get a closer look at. It didn't look like anything they had already seen. When Cassandra shone a light on it, they saw why.

"Is that a person?" asked Ben

"It's a Spartan." Said Jack

"Not just any Spartan, that's the Master Chief." Exclaimed Jill

"You're sure? I thought he was MIA." said Ben

"Well obviously we can't be sure unless we bring him aboard-" began Jill

"Not a good idea; I'm detecting multiple UNSC scavenger ships approaching this sector. We're leaving." Said Cassandra

_Sorry_, thought Jack. The Shiv flew away, and Jack watched as the living legend was brought onto the Pelican.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

"Well done Jack. Well done indeed." Said governor Jiles

"Thank you uncle, but it was a team effort." Replied Jack

"I know, and I have organised for appropriate rewards for all members of your team, and a remembrance service for mister Ho. It's the least we can do for his valiant efforts."

"Yeah, Hank's going to be distraught. Anyway, we're going to activate _Eden's Blade _now. We'll bring it around to show you and organise a crew compliment."

"I'll see you when you get here then. Kallos out."

Jack grinned and went to a Warthog that was waiting to take him to the mountain's entrance.

A few minutes later, Jack was inside _Eden's Blade,_ ascending on a platform of his own making; Vulcan had instructed him on how to form objects out of condenstone with his mind. Jill and the rest waited below, including the other Archons stationed on Vesuvius. The platform slowed and he reached the bridge, which began to form itself according to Jack's whim.

"Now, after so many centuries, I will finally see my plans come to fruition." Said Vulcan happily.

"This is going to be great, now we have the firepower to take on _Infinity._" Replied Jack

"Place the Apple here." Indicated Vulcan, a small stand rose out of the forward control panel. Jack placed the Apple in the cavity, and his hand fused to it and began to burn hotly.

"Aaargh!" cried Jack, trying to tear his hand away, but finding himself unable

Vulcan appeared beside him, grinning wickedly.

"Ah, Jack Jiles, you gullible fool. Of course, we did make you so that you could be easily manipulated. You, like your ancestor Desmond Miles, are nothing more than a tool for our use; a means to an end."

"What are you talking about?" cried Jack, the pain unbearable

"Our kind was all but destroyed during the first Halo event, and the only reason any of us survived is because of my sacrifice. But Juno, wonderful Juno, she thought of a way that would permit us to take physical form once again. The others refused, saying it was too great a sacrifice, but she dared to dream. I perfected her research during my captivity, so that we may inhabit this plane of existence once again. And now, I am reborn in you Jack Jiles."

Vulcan put his hand on the Apple, and time stood still, but the Apple flashed violently, and Jack could feel his mind being crushed and squeezed. Vulcan's voice could be heard in his head, "Yes, yes! Let me take control and be born again!"

Jack's last thought was, _"Ezio, help me!"_ before he remembered that Ezio was still on Vesuvius. Jack then lost consciousness.

Jack's vision returned with the view of the empty space within an animus simulation commonly referred to as the aether. Vulcan stood over him with his hammer and chains.

"What are you doing?" asked Jack

"I have to borrow your physical form for my return. You are a fine specimen, if only we could have made all of your kind like this." Vulcan threw the chains at Jack, who tried to dodge but they followed him and latched around his arms and legs and fused into shackles. Vulcan held the other end to the floor and hit it with his hammer, fusing it and trapping Jack within his own mind. Jack struggled but could not move much further away from where he stood.

"I must thank you for your participation in this endeavour. Oh, and don't even try to think about escaping, I can hear your thoughts in here."

"Where is here anyway?"

"This is your mind, I simply reconstructed it into a form that was easily manipulated, this raw data that I can control."

"It looks like an animus."

"Where do you think your people acquired the technology from?"

Jack remained quiet. If this was built like an animus, then there was certainly something he could do about his situation; every initiate knew that there were animus hacks since the 2.0 version developed by Rebecca Crane hundreds of years ago. And if there was a way to make hostiles into wooden rabbits on sticks, well there was almost certainly a way to circumvent Vulcan's control. After all, this was _Jack's _simulation and _he _made the rules here.

Vulcan stood straight, for the first time in millennia. He felt strong and powerful. He flexed Jack's fingers; it felt good to have a physical form again.

"The Forerunners sought to eliminate us, and now my race is the one who will rise from the ashes and claim its rightful place. Now, nothing can stop me. While I possess _Eden's Blade,_ no ship can challenge me. In this body, I am the master of mortal minds and combat, and the Mantle of Responsibility for all things will belong to its true masters."

Vulcan waved Jack's hand and powered _Eden's Blad_e's systems. The channels of light in the wall became illuminated in orange and pulsed like veins. The ship shuddered in movement, and the interior of the ship began to form. A network of corridors and light bridges formed and suddenly the ship was traversable without the use of floating platforms. The Archons down below made their way up to the bridge and congratulated Jack on their success, followed by Jill who had joined the science team. Vulcan smiled and thanked them.

"Hey Jack, where's Vulcan? I wanted to talk to him before we left." Said Jill

Vulcan turned and faced her, trying to act like Jack would.

"I'm sure he's very busy, making sure this ship works. He told me he can't come with us on _Eden's Blade_"

_"__Of course it works, everything I built works! This woman is so irritating! But she is useful for keeping up this façade."_

"Oh, OK then. When we get back maybe."

The mountain that shielded the entrance to the inside of the planet split in two, and _Eden's Blade _soared out of the ground in all its impressive majesty. Everyone was still in the bridge, watching as Vulcan guided the ship into orbit. Once he had done so, he turned to the assembled Assassins.

"Everyone, thank you for being here, all at once. But I can't have any of you foiling my plans with your meddling, so…" Vulcan raised the Apple, and the Archons only had time to raise their hands in protest before the Apple's influence washed over them, eroding any trace of willpower. He engaged the advanced Forerunner slipspace drive and set a course for Venezia.

Ezio was going through data on rampancy and the eventual singularity that Juno had once promised humanity when he was alerted to a medical emergency concerning Jack and the other Archons, just before _Eden's Blade _entered slipspace. Jack's mental activity had skyrocketed to almost triple the normal amount whereas the other Archons had lowered to the point that they were unconscious, and other markers indicated hypnosis.

"What is this? These readings shouldn't- oh _merda__."_

Ezio transferred himself to the slipspace communication station the Assassins had stolen from the _Infinity's _schematics during Isla Zane's insertion and had begun to formulate a message on the way but instead decided within the space of half a millisecond that he should see to this personally. In a bold and risky move, he transferred himself through the communicator to _Eden's Blade_.

Ezio infiltrated the systems, still in the process of a system-wide synch and with no security as of yet functioning. Ezio made his way to the bridge and noticed three things: Jack was holding the Apple of Eden as if he was using it on his Archons, the Archons and Jill were standing still as if under his control, and Ben was missing. Ezio went to find Ben.

"And now, my plan begins to unfold-"

"Hey Jack, are we moving? 'Cause I-" said Ben, coming up to the bridge

Vulcan raised the Apple again but Ben shot it out of his hand with his pistol. The Apple went flying and rolled away. The other Archons and Jill snapped out of the trance and shook their heads.

"Jack, what the hell?" said Julia groggily

Vulcan ran and jumped after the Apple, trying to get it back before someone realised what was going on-

"Looking for this Jack? Or should I say, Vulcan?" said Ben, holding the Apple so high it touched the roof.

"You don't understand!" cried Vulcan "Give it back fool!"

"Ezio told me everything. We've figured that Vulcan had transferred himself into Jack's mind and is controlling him. Jack, if you can hear me, we're going to get that asshole out of there."

"I doubt that, you know nothing of the method I used-"

"No, but I bet Jack does." Said Jill, now fully awake.

_"__No, but I bet Jack does." _Jill's voice made Jack look up from and watch the events unfold around him. Vulcan was visibly agitated, his orange glow flaring around his form. For some reason, he manifested himself within Jack's mind as the typical orange hologram rather than his original flesh and blood form. Jack could feel the chains that bound him slacken. Vulcan was losing his concentration and couldn't keep an eye on Jack the whole time. Jack smiled; this was how he was going to exploit his advantage.

"He may, but that's assuming he's still in here. And that I'm going to let any of you live."

Vulcan sprung up and rushed Julia, who was closest. Julia sidestepped the clumsy move and gave Jack's head a vicious elbow.

Jack's vision swam as Julia made the strike. Vulcan's thoughts echoed throughout his mind.

"No! These fools don't realise what they're doing! And now they want to fight me. I'll need at least a couple of them alive to find Juno's research devices back on Earth."

"Why? What's on Earth?" thought Jack, a little too loudly.

Vulcan turned, "Earth was our refuge during the war. It was where we had started and where we would end. The Didact saw some poetry in it and reduced your race from mighty space-faring warriors to nothing more than slaves fit to serve our will. We hid the truth of the Forerunners from you and made ourselves gods in your eyes. Those objects we used are still in our tombs on Earth, and in order to restore my race, I will need to reinstate that image of divinity."

Jack nodded and kept quiet.

"Soon, oh so soon." Thought Jack, in the mental equivalent of a whisper

Vulcan rolled out of the way from Julia's stomp and flicked his blades out to slash at their legs. The Archons jumped over it while Vulcan used the momentum to return to standing. He mentally kicked himself for not engaging his shields, underestimating the circumstances he found himself in. Before he could rectify his mistake, he was knocked back down the hallway by an overcharge burst from Jill's plasma glove. Vulcan's HUD flickered wildly as the systems attempted to rectify the EMP damage but finding itself unable. Vulcan tore off his less-than-useless helmet and glared at the Archons with murder in his eyes; Jill shuddered at the sight but stood her ground. The Assassins faced off against the familiar face of their foe, the standoff lasting a few uncomfortable seconds before the Assassins had silent acknowledgement lights go on and off to signal a synchronised attack.

"Here we go." thought Jack, watching from within his mind but unable to act


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

Vulcan acted first, in an unprecedented attack at Hank, who was fidgeting slightly. Ben brought his fist around but Vulcan caught it without looking and threw it into Hank's shoulder, twisting Hank as Vulcan impacted heavily on the big man, but Hank, surprisingly, went down with Vulcan. Vulcan drew a pistol he had snatched from Ben's waist and was about to fire point-blank in Hank's face but he grunted and threw Vulcan off of him. Vulcan fired twice into the wall, which glowed blue where it was hit. Jill fired another overcharge bolt from her glove at Vulcan's armour and permanently disabled it. Vulcan began to move a little slower, but he managed to fire at Jill in response and get her in the leg. She yelled once in pain and Miranda got between them, stun baton extended and ready. She took a couple of shots to her shields before she closed the distance. She swung at Vulcan with expert proficiency, but he dodged or warded off the strikes with gunfire. Eventually Miranda's shields overloaded and winked out and Xavier intercepted with his two knives. Vulcan had retreated down the hallway and now stood on an unfinished bridge. He raised his hands,

"Alright, you have me cornered. I surrender."

"As if I would surrender now, I have the advantage of _Eden's Blade,_ more useful to me than they could ever understand."

Jack heard Vulcan think to himself as he continued to fight the Archons and lose more and more attention towards Jack. As a result, Jack was slowly edging his way to Vulcan's form.

Vulcan sprung straight up and did a backflip, landing on a moving platform engraved with pulsing orange lines. Vulcan put up his pistol to fire but it clicked, empty. Vulcan ran back as the Archons fired after him.

"After him!" cried Julia

The assembled Archons leapt and free-ran after Vulcan across platforms across the gaping chasm of the unfinished interior of _Eden's Blade_. It was almost like a video game, and reminded Hank of the animus sessions involving Precursor sites. As if in answer to his thoughts, energy beams shot out of the glowing lines and cut the Assassins off from one another.

"Find another way around, he can't keep up these walls forever!" cried Xavier

The Archons scattered, watching their motion trackers for Jack's armour signature, made obvious by the flickering from the EMP-damaged systems. The energy walls shortly descended and the Archons continued the chase, except they had lost him.

"Guys, I aint gotta visual. Where the hell is he?" said Miranda to the others

Vulcan dropped down on her but she saw him at the last second and threw him off.

"Found him." Said Miranda

"Copy that," replied the others

Vulcan and Miranda ran at each other, Miranda shouting a fierce African war-cry.

As their fists flew at each other, Jack worked his way closer and closer to freedom.

Ben handled the Apple and was wondering if it would come in handy here. The First Civilisation were sure to have made their artefacts unable to work on themselves, but hadn't Jack said that he could use it to control and interface with the ship?

"Hmm. Ezio, I have an idea." said Ben

"What is it?" asked Ezio

"Just help me out here."

Miranda had finally been able to draw her stun baton but Vulcan had jumped her and they wrestled for it. Miranda was holding him in position for Xavier to land on him and hold him.

"Any time now Xave!" she said through the helmet mike

Xavier jumped from the ledge he had been watching from and landed on Vulcan's shoulders, sending him straight down. As Vulcan hit the ground, the wall behind Xavier and Miranda shot forward and knocked them off the platform. Julia fired at him from above, forcing Vulcan to take cover.

"Watch out! He's got control over the ship again!" she called, and the floor fell out from under her but she recovered quickly on the lower level as _Eden's Blade_ began to reshape itself.

"Why is this body not strong enough to defeat them?" thought Vulcan in despair

"Oh, I'm plenty strong enough, it's more than strength in a fight though, and you don't know any of my moves." Replied Jack

Vulcan turned; Jack sounded a lot closer than last time-

Jack threw the chains around Vulcan's neck and dragged him down to the ground. Jack's body fell to the ground and began to spasm and react as if it were being pummelled by an invisible foe. Inside, Jack was indeed pounding Vulcan hard, straddling him and attacking his unguarded face. Vulcan tried to get Jack off of him but couldn't concentrate.

"This is MY HEAD!" thought Jack before a punch

"I make the rules here!" followed by a roundhouse elbow. Vulcan just groaned and lay there. Jack got back up, satisfied and began to retake control of his body.

"Hello? Hello, is this thing on?" said Jack

"Hey guys, what the hell?" asked Miranda as the other Archons assembled around Jack's body, which had started talking again, but had not attempted to attack anyone.

"Jack might still be in there, and he's trying to regain control." Commented Ezio, who was displayed from Ben's armour

"Come on Jacky-boy, hang in there!" said Ben

The body stopped moving, then got up into a sitting position

"I told you never to call me that."

Ben smiled behind his helmet and offered Jack a hand. Jack took it and was pulled upright.

_I must thank Vulcan for organising my head like this, I can think much clearer like this. _Thought Jack

_Then you can thank me in person. _Thought Vulcan

Vulcan grappled Jack and threw him to the ground again.

Jack's body gave a spasm and punched Ben in the face and kneed him in the groin hard. Ben doubled over with pain and cried in a high-pitched voice

"Dafuq?" he said, and promptly fell to his knees.

"It's an act! Get him!" said Julia

"We're fighting for control here. I'll try and stop him from in here!" said Jack, as he side-kicked Miranda

Xavier tossed her a knife and she sunk it into the unarmoured part of Jack's left shoulder with a grunt. Jack yelled in pain as it sunk into the bone. He pulled out the knife and a pistol and engaged Miranda while firing at Julia, who ducked behind cover. Miranda tried to knock the pistol out of his hand but he caught he wrist and sent her flying and bleeding from the slash he gave her as she sailed past.

Vulcan and Jack continued to duel inside his head.

"You can't beat me Jack Jiles, I am your superior in every way."

"Says the guy who has no body-"

"I have _your_ body,"

"Because that makes it better," thought Jack sarcastically, "Well I have a home-field advantage."

Each of them had only partial control; Jack had control over his mouth and senses, but Vulcan had control over most of his body.

"Lights out, Vulcan!" thought Jack as he was hit with a brainwave and closed his eyes as a fist hit him the back of his head. Jack's body fell forward but its arms acted and pressed him back up and into Hank's muscular chest. Vulcan groped, unable to see, and realised the surface in front of him was not the smooth texture of condenstone, but the rugged angular surface of an Archon's chestplate. Hank lifted him by his neck with both hands. Jack's feet dangled below him and his eyes opened reflexively. Hank turned and smashed his head into the wall behind him, almost knocking him unconscious.

"Hank, here! Use this!" called Ben and threw something small and glowing at Hank, who caught it out of the air with one hand and nodded his thanks. Wrapping his enormous hand around the Apple, he gave Jack an almighty punch against the wall again, knocking him out.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

Jack woke and could see the Archons gathered around his body, except he was watching the whole scene unfold from above. Vulcan was also there, he could sense it.

"Your friends have fused us with _Eden's Blade_ and we are now inside the computer system. Welcome to my existence for the past few millennia." Said Vulcan, his voice only heard by Jack

"What?! So my body's empty?" said Jack

"Yes, but now _I _have the advantage of the home field."

Jack could feel Vulcan's presence press against his own. It hurt like nothing he had ever experienced before. The power feeds closest to him flared in response to his pain and his screams echoed out across the empty space in the ship.

"Was that Jack?" asked Hank

"It came from up here!" cried Jill, who had assembled the science team and had limped down to join them.

The other Archons began to climb up to the spot but their climbing surface changed under their fingers.

"NO! I won't let you foil any more of my plans!" boomed Vulcan's voice from the walls

The Archons fell, and landed on another platform that formed under them to break their otherwise-fatal fall.

"And I won't let you hurt my Archons!" said Jack's voice, equally loud and impressive. Ladders and poles formed out of the walls leading up to Jack's body. Energy walls formed between them as Vulcan's counter-attempt.

Jack and Vulcan continued to mentally duel within the computer, and Jack was losing. He was maintaining all his effort to help the Archons, and Vulcan was trying to destroy him.

"You cannot save yourself and your allies. Surrender and I may let you inhabit another body and be a pawn in our glorious empire."

"Go to hell," replied Jack

Vulcan sent another wave of digital pain at Jack, who reeled with it.

_How can I beat him? _Thought Jack, now unheard by Vulcan _He's used to this, hell, he's been living like this for who knows how many millennia? Wait- _Jack was reminded of when Ezio used his hidden blades to "kill" the Covenant AI.

_Could it be that simple? Only one way to find out…_

Jack readied himself for another assault from Vulcan. When it came, he visualised himself in his Archon armour. He felt a jolt, but significantly less pain this time, as his shields took the most of it.

"How are you doing that? How are you so proficient so quickly?" said Vulcan, agape

"I had a good teacher." Replied Jack, firing the cannons on his Mantis mech that he had visualised around himself. Vulcan shot each missile out of the air with a First Civilisation pistol he summoned and deflected the bullets with a personal protection ring.

The Archons had eventually made their way to Jill, who was crouching over Jack's body and checking his vital signs.

"He's weak, but alive." She said

"We need to get off this ship, now." Said Julia. No-one argued with her. Hank scooped up Jack's body and they began to move, but Jack's head was fused to the wall and the Apple on his forehead.

"Uh, what?" was all he could say before the ship shuddered. They had finally left slipspace and entered Venezia's orbit.

Below, sensors were going crazy and messages were shooting through the Assassin's base in mount Kallos.

"We have an unidentified ship in our orbit above New Tyne!"

"How did it evade our early-warning systems?"

"What the hell _is_ it?"

"Holy shit it's huge!"

"Is it _Infinity?" _asked governor Jiles

"Reading high levels of Cherenkov radiation building within its superstructure. It's building, I think it's going to fire!"

"I'm reading a message, it's from an Assassin source, it says, 'Fire now, we've been compromised, destroy _Eden's Blade _as fast as you can.' It's from Jack Jiles!"

Governor Jiles' eyes widened at the mention of his nephew's name and the ship he had claimed.

"Then fire!" replied Jiles

_Oh, I hope he knows what he's doing._

MAC cannons on the ground and plasma cannons cannibalised from the Assassin's Covenant fleet all turned and acquired a lock on _Eden's Blade. _Shots resounded throughout the night, and a corona of blue light surrounded _Eden's Blade _as the hardlight shields kicked in.

The Assassins were at a loss as to what to do with Jack's body; they couldn't move it and it wasn't about to get up and go with them, as Vulcan was keeping Jack locked within the system.

"Jack, we really need to go now, and I am not leaving you here." Said Jill firmly. Warning lights pulsed as MAC rounds and huge plasma blasts impacted the shields. Jack was attempting to sacrifice himself and _Eden's Blade _but Vulcan wasn't making it easy for him.

"You would destroy all that you have worked for, just to defeat me. Are you truly that short-sighted?" asked Vulcan attempting to keep the shields powered.

"I can see that you would enslave our race to bring back your people. You had your chance, you failed. Get over it you crazy old geezer!" replied Jack

"And what about your people then? You would not even exist without us nor would you have survived had we not bred you to excess."

"Well we're here now so get over it!"

Meanwhile, Jill was attempting to reverse the effects that the Apple had on Jack's consciousness, and was having some success with Ezio's help.

"Jack, we can get you out of there but you have to go now!" she cried out

Jack and Vulcan paused for a moment before Jack rushed through the ship's systems to get to where his brain was interfaced with it and Vulcan was hot on his heels.

"I will not let you survive while I die again!" said Vulcan

"And I won't let you stop me!" replied Jack, about to reach his destination when Vulcan pulled him back just before it. They engaged in yet another fight and Jack made a decision.

"Everyone, get to _Brontes _and _Steropes,_ now! You need to get off this ship before it gets destroyed." Said Jack

"Ha! Your weapons can't even breach the shields, how do you expect to destroy it?" said Vulcan

"Once I stop you, I can lower the shields, and weaken the condenstone, just like you taught me."

Vulcan said nothing, but the Archons knew that a proverbial smile had just been wiped off his face

"Go, now!"

"Jack, we're not leaving-" began Xavier

"Just do it! That's an order!"

"Then I'm not leaving." Said Jill

Shocked silence followed her statement

"You- would do that? For me?" said Jack

Jill nodded, "I would."

The wall that Jack's body was bound to formed a box around it, sealing the unconscious form within. An audible slump of Jack's armoured body could be heard.

"Then take me, and make sure I get a proper burial. I'm as good as dead with him here, and I wouldn't want him in our relationship anyway. Now go! I'll clear a path."

"Is that so?" replied Vulcan, about to change the interior of the ship to make it impossible to escape

"Yes, it's so!" yelled Jack, throwing everything he had at Vulcan to keep him distracted while he engineered a direct route for the Assassins to go through. The Assassins split into two teams and free-ran their ways to the two Forerunner warships docked with _Eden's Blade,_ with the box containing Jack's body floating behind Jill, who finally decided to leave but had to be carried by Miranda.

"Hey, does anyone know how to fly this thing?" said Julia once they'd boarded

"Uh, no." replied Xavier

"I do, just let me take care of this," said Ezio, interfacing with the ship's navigational controls and bringing both ships out of dock and away from _Eden's Blade._

Jill watched the holographic display of _Eden's Blade _being pummelled by the ground-based weaponry, having no obvious effect. Then, like ripple on water, something spread through the armour plating condenstone, and the shields went down. The MAC rounds started penetrating the armour, the plasma tore gaping holes and the whole ship started to fall apart. The Assassin's greatest asset of all time, was destroyed, along with one of their greatest Assassins.

**Epilogue**

"Will this work?" asked Jiles

"I don't know sir, flash cloning is sloppy from what we can tell. And combining it with First Civilisation technology, there are just too many variables to account for." Replied the doctor in charge of the operation

"Can we try again if it doesn't work?"

"Most likely sir, yes."

"Then do it. Halsey may have used this for a temporary fix, but I want this to last as long as a real person. And the Apple has given us a chance at a full recovery."

"Well, sir, he wasn't technically dead."

"What?"

"The Archons brought back the body, but it was still alive. We burned a flash clone because Bennet here had the idea you would try something like this."

Jiles was taken aback somewhat and looked at Bennet

"You knew I would do something like this? And you kept it from me?"

"I suspected, and either way, it was too valuable an opportunity to lose young Jiles and we wanted to make sure you wouldn't overreact."

"I don't know whether to punish you for the break in protocol, or to hug you for raising our chances."

Bennet gave a nervous laugh,

"Well, how about we see what we can do with it first sir."

"Quite. Alright then, begin when you're ready."

"Yes sir."

Jack's body, still breathing and hooked up with IVs to keep it alive, was brought in on a hospital bed. His eyes were unseeing, but even from this distance, Jiles could see that they still held great potential.

"Sir, we're going to need your participation for this."

Jiles walked over to the desk where the Apple of Eden lay, untouched since its return. The condenstone had formed around it in a protective box with a transparent top, which receded when Jiles approached it. The Assassin scientists had attached an interface to it to control its outputs. He held the box with both hands and turned to face Jack. He took two steps forward and held it near Jack's head. The condenstone glowed brightly and reformed to fit Jack's head.

"Sir, just wait while we adjust for the energy fluctuations- there. Keep going."

Jiles continued, and the box attached itself to Jack's head like a skullcap. The Apple glowed a light blue, lightning arced off it and time seemed to stand still. Jiles took a closer look; Jack's heart rate had increased, his mental activity was up and once again, Jack Jiles was, clinically, alive.

"Did it work? I was expecting something a little more dramatic." Asked Jiles

"I don't know. Sir, why don't you try waking him. He's stable, you shouldn't do any damage."

Jiles swallowed and leant over Jack's face.

"Jack? Are you there?"

_"__Jack? Are you there?"_

Jack's mental self sat up within his head, he could see his uncle's face in front of him, full of both concern and hope. It had been a long time since he had seen him face to face. He looked around the inside of his head and stood up.

He was back.

The End

**Author's note (You don't have to read this but I would appreciate it):**

I worked really hard for this fanfic. I know it copped some flak for making ONI out to be the bad guys and the Insurrectionists the good guys, but neither of those statements were true; as Delta AI put it, they are two parties working towards two different goals, or something like that. Assassins does not equal Insurrectionists, nor does Templar equal ONI, (although they're pretty damn close.) But enough justification, I really enjoyed writing this, the research was intriguing, (really just an excuse to read the Halo novels) and I hope to put more of it to good use if and when I write another Halo fanfic, maybe even a sequel. That really depends on you, the reader. If I feel like it has been well received, then I will.

Thanks for reading.

Phoenixforce50


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